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Fraud
Stories
From
Patrick
Crowley
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Fraud
News Wire
| Last Updated |
Friday, March 9, 2007, |
04:49
PM |
Texas
Time |
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Crooked Lawyers
A former Kansas elected official who is in trouble along with her attorney husband for alleged mortgage fraud highlights the latest edition of Lawyers Gone Wild.
Katheryn Shields, 60, the former Jackson County executive and her husband, attorney Philip Cardarella, 59, have been indicted along with nine other people on federal charges of "conspiracy and wire fraud for their role in a scheme to engage in mortgage fraud," according to a statement from U.S. Attorney Bradley Schlozman.
"This case represents another tragic example of intelligent individuals -- including lawyers and prominent elected officials -- thumbing their noses at the law in the pursuit of quick and easy cash," said Schlozman, the U.S. Attorney for the Western District if Missouri in Kansas City.
The couple could not be reached to comment, but they have maintained their innocence in published reports.
MortgageDaily.com
subscribers read Patrick's full story
Legislator
Accused of Foreclosure Fraud
The Maryland Attorney General is looking into claims
that a state legislator duped a woman into selling
her home to him.
In a lawsuit filed in Anne Arundel County Circuit
Court, Teresa Milligan accuses Maryland State Delegate
William "Tony" McConkey, a Republican and a real
estate broker, of foreclosure rescue fraud.
McConkey has denied Milligan's claims that he somehow
tricked Milligan into singing over her house to
him.
Kevin Enright, a spokesman for Maryland Attorney
General J. Joseph Curran, confirmed to MortgageDaily.com
that the attorney general's office is "looking into
the matter."
MortgageDaily.com
subscribers read Patrick's full story
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March
9, 2007
5
Indicted for Pre-foreclosure Scam
Accusations of running a pre-foreclosure scam
that defrauded HUD from $1.9 million resulted
in indictments for Trudy Peters, a former American
Title Insurance Agency escrow officer; John
Soto and Larry Smith, ex-Wells Fargo Home Mortgage
loan officers; and Maria Felix and Tony Vasquez,
respectively former housing counselors for ACORN
Housing and Chicanos Por La Causa.
read
story from The Arizona Republic
Title
Co. Raided for Suspected Fraud
The Federal Bureau of Investigation carried
out a search warrant for Alyeska Title, looking
for financial documents that could trace possible
mortgage fraud.
read
story from KTVA 11
7
Indicted for Bogus Mortgages
An alleged $14 million scheme that used straw
buyers to obtain purchase-money loans for amounts
higher than homes were actually worth landed
indictments for Donald L. Jones, Joseph B. Jackson,
Donald Matthew Jones, Daniel J. Sattizahn, Catherine
L. Dike, William Barnes, and Foday S. Fofanah.
read
story from the Dallas Business Journal
Mortgage
Cheaters Beware
Due to the pervasiveness and growth in mortgage
fraud, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has
set out to notify loan prospects and potential
insider perpetrators of the fines and prison
time that can result from cheating for mortgages.
read
story from CNN Money
Judge
Honors Mortgage Fraudster's Deal
Because Corey M. Hazel showed up to court the
day of his sentencing, after admitting to charges
that he led a scheme that bilked up to $2 million
from mortgage lenders through inflated property
appraisals and other false information, a judge
honored the six-year sentence offer he had previously
made to the man.
read
story from The Columbus Dispatch
March
8, 2007
Publication
Helps Lenders Understand Laws
Joint effort provides lenders legal content
support services.
Mortgage
Bankers, FBI Fight Fraud
MBA signs agreement with FBI to promote use
of FBI's Mortgage Fraud Warning Notice.
FBI,
Lenders Warn Fraud is Illegal
FBI issues Mortgage Fraud Notice in conjunction
with Mortgage Bankers Association.
Exec
Faces Ponzi Scheme Charges
It is expected that the founder of Pinnacle
Development Partners LLC, Gene A. O'Neal, will
be charged with orchestrating a Ponzi scheme
that bilked investors out of $69 million through
false promises that it would go in 50 percent
on investments for distressed properties that
would bring investors high returns on the half
they contributed.
read
story from the Wall Street Journal
Builder
Employee Accused of Mortgage Fraud
Several building contractors and developers
are part of a mortgage fraud case in which a
couple claims that Robert W. Kitsell, a builder
employee, deceived them into signing over their
property in a quit-claim deed -- as they were
told this was necessary to obtain a construction
loan -- and then used the property to acquire
a loan from Chestatee State Bank that was sizably
bigger than the amount the couple had agreed
to.
read
story from the Pickens County Progress
Judge
Pauses ARM Adjustment
A judge prohibited Ameriquest Mortgage Co. from
raising a couple's adjustable-rate mortgage
payment and foreclosing on their home until
the court decides whether the company failed
to provide proper notification and documentation
that the interest rate would rise sharply on
the loan.
read
story from the Cape Cod Times
Man
Pleads Guilty to Fraud
Michael Jackson, of Missouri, admitted he helped
in using straw buyers and rigging appraisals
to raise the value of properties -- a scheme
that cost mortgage lenders and others more than
$400,000 on property.
read
story from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
March
7, 2007
Fleeing
Contractor Captured
Authorities have captured Dana Abboud, who had
fled to avoid prosecution but now faces charges
of defrauding Katrina victims seeking repair
on their homes by taking their money and not
completing the work or taking their insurance
checks and depositing the funds into his business
account, rather than submitting them to mortgage
companies.
read
story from The Times-Picayune
MO
Forms Fraud-Fighting Unit
The state of Missouri -- which has been rated
sixth nationally in the number of mortgage fraud
cases -- has created a task force that will
dedicate itself to reviewing complaints and
sharing information between regulating agencies
to develop solutions to prevent fraud and foreclosures.
read
story from the Kansas City Star
More
Mortgage Fraud Suspicions
IReal estate finance insiders using inflated
appraisals to profit from loans worth more than
the properties and borrowers lying on applications
for loan approval are contributing to the growing
number of reports for suspected mortgage fraud
-- which jumped 35 percent in a one-year period.
read
story from Builder Online
March
6, 2007
Fraud Investigation Services Expand
Interthinx increases mortgage loan file review
team.
FBI
Mortgage Fraud Report
Mortgage fraud is worst in the Western region
of the country, according to a new report from
the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The report
said mortgage industry insiders are involved
in four out of five cases.
MortgageDaily.com
subscribers read full story.
Ex-Appraiser
Imprisoned for Fraud
To help mortgage brokers maximize the size of
loans for refinance borrowers, Lawrence Goodwin
admitted to inflating the values of homes --
a move that has landed him a 1-year sentence
to prison.
read
story from KOTV 6
Mortgage
Fraud on the Rise
The incidence of mortgage fraud jumped 35 percent
through the year ending in the first quarter
2006, with some of the rise due to skyrocketing
home prices and newer mortgage products.
read
story from Globe St.
March
5, 2007
Prisoner:
How to Avoid Fraud
Brent Barber, who earned a 12-year sentence
for masterminding the largest mortgage fraud
prosecuted in Missouri and says he could still
easily steal anyone's home while in prison,
advised that title companies verify with lenders
any paid-off loans and for counties to require
that deeds be filed in person by the buyer,
with ID.
read
story from the News-Press.
Lawsuits
targeting mortgage schemes
Big lenders and Wall Street investors are going
after Arizona mortgage brokers, appraisers,
real estate agents, title firms and home buyers
for fraud.
read
story from The Arizona Republic.
FL
Bill Targets Mortgage Fraud
Due to the growth of mortgage fraud in Florida
and insufficient detectives to fight it, the
state's mortgage bankers are in support of a
bill that will make mortgage fraud a specific
crime and bring greater punishment even to individuals
whose roles in loan scams may have been small.
read
story from the Miami Herald.
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Patrick
Crowley is fraud journalist for MortgageDaily.com
and a reporter and columnist
for The Cincinnati Enquirer.
Email Patrick at: PatCrowley@FraudBlogger.com |
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