Friday, July 31, 2009

Miami Feds Bag 41 Suspects In Fraud Scams Involving Double HUD-1s, Complicit Straw Buyers, "Shotgun" Apps, I.D. Theft, Forgery, Pocketing Loan Payoffs

In Miami, Florida, the South Florida Business Journal reports:
  • State and federal agents announced that charges have been filed against 41 people in six separate cases(1) totaling more than $40 million in fraudulent mortgages. Tuesday’s announcement is part of a crackdown on mortgage fraud, begun in September 2007, that has targeted mortgage brokers, bank employees, title agents, attorneys and straw buyers.

The following are some of the highlights of the six alleged scams, according to the press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office:

  • Recruiting complicit straw buyers, title agents, lender employee.
  • Preparation of fraudulent mortgage loan applications on behalf of complicit straw borrowers using false employment verifications, pay stubs, income and funds on deposit, and IRS Forms W-2,
  • Use of "double HUD-1s" - false duplicate HUD-Settlement Statement Forms created and submitted to the lending institutions, which grossly inflated the true purchase price of the properties,
  • Use of "shotgun" loan applications - obtaining near-simultaneous loans for the same piece of property from multiple lenders,
  • I.D. theft / forgery scam - entirely false real estate sales were concocted by stealing the identities of unwitting home owners, forging the sales documents in their names, and using complicit straw purchasers to obtain mortgages, all without the real property owners’ knowledge or consent,
  • Pocketing loan payoffs - involved legitimate borrowers seeking to re-finance and payoff existing mortgages. Unbeknownst to the borrowers, defendant allegedly kept the loan proceeds for himself and did not use the funds to pay off the borrowers’ pre-existing loans.

For more, see:

(1) Those implicated in the alleged scams are:

  • Indictment #1: Mayra Rodriguez, 31; Lucia Peluffo, 29; Nelson Bermudez, 36; Yamile Segurola, 24, all of Miami; Carlos Rodriguez, 29, of Homestead; Mayelin Salas, 36, of Miami Springs; Nelida Rodriguez, 48, of Opa Locka; Sonya Balmaseda, 35, of Hialeah; Jorge Egeraige, 38, of Hialeah; Jaime Rojas, 39, of North Miami Beach; Alejandro Rabelo, 49, of Miami Beach; Pedro Huezo, 58, of Opa Locka; Jose Arriete, 53; Gerard Wenzel, 50; Elias Fleites, 55; Marcelo Fernandez, 41; Lucy Segurola, 51; Ricardo Segurola, 51; and Jorge Lugo, 46, all of Miami. According to the Indictment, defendants Mayra Rodriguez, Mayelin Salas, Nelida Rodriguez, Yamile Segurola, and Lucia Peluffo were employed at companies owned by Magile Cruz (Cruz previously pled guilty and was sentenced in January 2009 to 120 months’ imprisonment for her participation in this scheme). Cruz’s companies included Star Lending Mortgage, State Mortgage Lending, Sherley Title Services, Doral Title Services, and Professional Title Express, all in Miami-Dade County.
  • Indictment #2: Bryan A. Guarch, 29, Richard Pi, 27, Edwin Garcia, 30, Carlos Martinez, 29, Wayne Bermudez, 29, Oscar Quintero, 28, Sunsy Garcia, 29, Ryan Barouh, 27, Jason Cuza, 30, Anthony Silverio, 26, all of Miami, Rafael Jaramillo, 32, of Hialeah Gardens, Mario Estrada Mora, 25, of Miami Beach, and Vanessa Negron, 27, of Boiling Springs, South Carolina.
  • Indictment #3: Sixto Figueroa, 57, and his wife Susy Figueroa, 44, Rolando Herrera, 63, and Manuel Garcia, 40, , Yolanda Garcia-Montes, all of Miami.
  • Indictment # 4: Fielding Dameron, 60, of Miami.
  • Indictment # 5: Stephen LaLonde, 42, of Fort Lauderdale.
  • Indictment # 6: Milennys Foira, 35, of Doral, FL, and Richard Diaz, 26, of Miami, FL, (recruited Jean Claude Cahen, who was previously charged and convicted, to use his identity and credit to buy a selected property in Miami, Florida). EscrowRipOffKappa shotgunning

posted by Home Equity Theft Reporter at 4:13 AM