Tenant Who Allegedly Targeted His Landlord In Real Estate Equity Refinancing Ripoff Tracked Down In Canada; Feds Seek Extradition

Buried in a recent story on mortgage fraud in The Wall Street Journal is this excerpt on a recent indictment of a tenant who attempted to rip off the equity in the house he was renting from his landlord:

• [T]he Federal Bureau of Investigation in June indicted a Phoenix man for mail and wire fraud among other alleged crimes when the agency says he tried to steal a house from his landlord.

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• Fraudsters have adapted to the new restrictions. With banks less apt to lend to borrowers with shaky finances, criminals rely more on falsifying documents, recruiting loan officers and other bank insiders to work for them, and stealing identities to get loans, federal investigators and mortgage industry research reports.

• In the Phoenix case, prosecutors allege, Jose Victor Buencamino did all three. Some people who knew Mr. Buencamino describe him as a large, friendly man devoted to his children, the life of many a party and a passionate golfer. Gary Weaver, who rented a home to Mr. Buencamino last year, has a different impression. He said the Arizona businessman tried to snare him in an elaborate mortgage scheme.

• According to a federal indictment unsealed in June, while Mr. Buencamino was renting Mr. Weaver's house on the golf course at Moon Valley Country Club, he intercepted mail intended for Mr. Weaver and obtained his social security number, then applied for a driver's license in Mr. Weaver's name.

• Then, the indictment alleges, with the help of a friend who worked as a loan officer at a local branch of Compass Bank, a unit of Spanish bank Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA, Mr. Buencamino obtained a $245,000 cash-out mortgage on the property. A homeowner using a cash-out mortgage refinances the home loan for more than the mortgage is currently worth and pockets the difference in cash.

• A Compass Bank spokesman didn't respond to requests for comment. Mr. Buencamino, who couldn't be located for comment, has not responded to the charges. A federal agent said he had been tracked to Vancouver, where the agent said he is applying for Canadian residency. Prosecutors involved in the case said he didn't have an attorney on whom they could serve court papers. U.S. authorities said they were seeking his extradition.

Source: Mortgage Fraud Is Rising, With a Twist (Adapting to Tighter Rules After Collapse, Scammers Turn to More Complex Plots).