South Florida Feds Charge Three In Alleged Mortgage Scam Resulting In $6M In Fraudulently Obtained Loan Proceeds

From the office of the U.S. Attorney - Southern District Of Florida:

• R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, [and a host of other law enforcement officials] announced that defendants Berry Louidort, Lauren Jasky, and Ralph Michel, of Palm Beach County, were charged in a Criminal Complaint filed in federal court on April 22, 2008. [...] The defendants are charged with bank fraud [...].

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• [According to the criminal complaint], this investigation began with an audit conducted by the Florida Office of Financial Regulation into 24 sub-prime mortgage loans in the period November 2006 to June 2007. The initial audit showed that the loans included what appeared to be excessively large fees paid to defendants Berry Louidort and Ralph Michel. The fees, ranging from $29,000 to $650,000, were described as marketing and/or assignment fees. In reality, the fees were kickbacks to defendants Louidort and Michel based on inflated sales prices. The audit also revealed that the majority of the suspect loans were originated by defendant Lauren Jasky, Senior Vice President of Compass Mortgage Services, located in Boca Raton, Florida.

For more, see U.S. Attorney Press Release: Palm Beach County Residents Charged With Mortgage Fraud.

Go here for other posts on this alleged flipping scam.

More On Three Facing Federal Charges In Alleged Palm Beach County Flipping Scam

In Palm Beach County, Florida The Palm Beach Post reports on the criminal allegations facing Berry Louidort and Ralph Michel (also known as Ralph Duverneau), who are accused of putting together deals for two dozen homes in Palm Beach County, persuading banks to loan far more than the properties actually sold for, then pocketing the difference and letting many of the homes lapse into foreclosure; and Boca Raton mortgage broker Lauren Jasky who is accused of helping Louidort and Michel arrange the deals.

• There's Michel - a native of Haiti who, according to his attorney, can't read or write well enough to pass a U.S. citizenship test - collecting "assignment fees" of $650,000 and $600,000 on side-by-side homes in the Versailles development in Wellington.

• There's Louidort, also a native of Haiti, describing a scheme to buy 50 condos in Boynton Beach while stealing $4 million from lenders. He thinks he's talking to a willing accomplice. In fact, he's laying out the plot to an undercover FBI agent who captures the conversation on videotape.

• There are straw buyers, such as the part-time Publix cashier whose income on loan applications was inflated from $13,000 to $344,000 so she could qualify for $1.3 million in loans on a palatial home in a gated community in Boca Raton.

• There's Jasky saying she doesn't want to know the unsavory details of the loans she's shopping to lenders. Meanwhile, her mother is acting as the Realtor on some of the deals.

• And there are some of the world's most sophisticated financial institutions, including JPMorgan Chase and Bank of New York, making loans on these properties for twice what they were worth.

For the rest of the story, see 3 charged in mortgage scam called 'economic parasites'.

See also, U.S. Attorney Press Release: Palm Beach County Residents Charged With Mortgage Fraud.

Palm Beach County Man To Forfeit $6.5M As Part Of Plea Deal In Alleged "Cash Back" Straw Buyer Scam Involving 44 South Florida Homes

In South Florida, the Palm Beach Post reports:

• A Palm Beach County real estate investor who was videotaped describing a mortgage scam(1) to an undercover FBI agent has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and one count of mail fraud. Berry Louidort agreed to forfeit $6.5 million and a 2008 Mercedes, according to a plea agreement filed Wednesday in federal court. According to the latest indictment from federal prosecutors, Louidort was part of a scheme to land bogus mortgages on 37 properties in Palm Beach County and seven in Naples.(2)

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• Federal prosecutors say the ring overstated the values of properties - including large new homes in Wellington and Boca Raton - then took out loans and pocketed the difference between the amount they paid the sellers and the amount they got from borrowers.

For the story, see Mortgage scam case nets third guilty plea.

(1) According to the story, in one example, Louidort convinced a lender that he had paid $1.03 million for a house west of Delray Beach and walked away from the closing with an "assignment fee" of $250,000, federal prosecutors said in April. The house soon went into foreclosure. The ring also enlisted straw buyers, such as the part-time [supermarket] cashier whose income on loan applications was inflated from $13,000 to $344,000 so she could qualify for $1.3 million in loans on a Boca Raton home.

(2) According to the story, two other players in the scam, former Bank of America employee Ria Sigala and Delray Beach insurance agent Danny Mesidort, pleaded guilty last month. Ralph Michel and Lauren Jasky, accused in the scam, have pleaded not guilty.