NJ AG Announces Charges Against Woman In Alleged Short Sale "Flopping" Scam; Used Phony IDs & Documents, Straw Buyers Say Authorities

From the Office of the New Jersey Attorney General:

• Attorney General Paula T. Dow and Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor [] announced charges against a Kearny woman who allegedly orchestrated a scheme to steal millions of dollars by obtaining mortgage loans using false identities and counterfeit documents. According to Director Taylor, Genilza R. Nunes, 36, of Kearny, was arrested on March 9 by detectives of the Division of Criminal Justice Major Crimes Bureau as a result of an ongoing investigation into the conspiracy. [...] Because the investigation by the Division of Criminal Justice is ongoing, the charges were not announced until [Wednesday]. Nunes was charged [] with other defendants in a federal investigation into related activities announced by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and FBI in Newark.

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• Nunes and her co-conspirators allegedly defrauded numerous lending institutions of millions of dollars through what is known as a “short sale mortgage loan property flip scheme.” [...] In this case, individuals involved in the scheme were purchasing the properties as straw buyers, using false identities supported by counterfeit driver’s licenses, false financial records, and fictitious credit histories.

• Through a series of fraudulent transactions, the short sale properties were then sold or “flipped” at inflated values derived from fraudulent appraiser reports. A second straw buyer applied for a mortgage loan on the inflated property and obtained the loan under a false identity. The short sale property was then purchased with the loan proceeds, and, by design, the straw buyer made no payments on the loan, causing a loan default. [...] Typically Nunes and her co-conspirators obtained $100,000 to $300,000 per transaction.

For the entire press release, see Kearny Woman Charged in Multi-Million Dollar Scheme to Obtain Mortgage Loans Using False Identities & Counterfeit Documents.