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Fraud
Stories
From
Patrick
Crowley
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Fraud
News Wire
| Last Updated |
Thursday,
November 22, 2006, |
04:49
PM |
Texas
Time |
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Armed & Dangerous
A former mortgage executive who is under indictment for selling the same loans multiple times on the secondary market escaped when federal agents tried to nab him.
Edward Batayeh, who is also known as Ed Bhataybh, has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Oakland on charges of masterminding a $13 million fraud that included reselling loans multiple times.
But when federal agents tried to apprehend him on Nov. 17, he fled in a 2003 BMW X3 with the California license plate 5ETZ317.
"Defendant is a fugitive and should be considered armed and dangerous," the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California said in a statement.
MortgageDaily.com
subscribers read Patrick's full story
Fraud
King Caught
The most brazen outlaw in mortgage fraud has been
arrested.
Matthew B. Cox, who allegedly masterminded a multimillion
dollar mortgage fraud scheme across the South, was
nabbed Thursday afternoon in Nashville by U.S. Secret
Service agents who were tipped off by a babysitter
who learned about him from the a newspaper article.
The arrest came just one day after Cox's accomplice,
34-year-old Rebecca Marie Hauck, was sentenced by
a federal court in Atlanta to more than five years
in prison and ordered to pay almost $1.2 million
in restitution for her role in the scheme.
The couple, who were dubbed the Bonnie and Clyde
of mortgage fraud, was finally behind bars Thursday
night after more than two years evading authorities
in Georgia, Florida, Alabama, South Carolina, North
Carolina and Tennessee.
MortgageDaily.com
subscribers read Patrick's full story
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November
22, 2006
3rd
Fraud Perpetrator Sentenced
Final participant in $1 million mortgage St.
Louis fraud scheme sentenced.
Unkept
Yards Lure Fraudsters
A book author recommended for owners of homes
they don't reside in to keep up with the exterior
of the properties to avoid being duped by scam
artists such as James Andrew Ryan, who received
a two-month jail sentence for admitting he transferred
the interests of run-down homes with unkept
yards to his name through forged quitclaim deeds
and bogus notary seals.
read
story from Boston Globe.
Foreclosure
"Rescue" Prevalent
Platinum Investment Group is amongst the companies
borrowers have filed complaints against for
allegedly leading borrowers on the verge of
foreclosure into unknowingly signing off their
homes -- a type of scam that is spreading and
has prompted several states to pass related
protection laws.
read
story from BusinessWeek .
OH
Fights Fraud
The FBI will lead a task force formed by Ohio
and federal officials to combat mortgage fraud
and indict predatory lenders in the state, which
has one of the nation's highest foreclosure
rates.
read
story from the Plain Dealer .
Mortgage
Co. Owner Operates Scheme
Amongst the tactics Yvette Scott Patterson,
owner of Khadmilroy Inc., is accused of using
to run a $12 million mortgage fraud ring was
the use of straw buyers, inflated property values
and rent-to-own schemes.
read
story from the Miami Herald.
November
21, 2006
7
Arrested for FHA Fraud
The ongoing Colorado and federal investigation
of fraud in which false documents, including
forged Social Security cards, were used to obtain
mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration
led to the arrests of Maria Baca, Juan Cervantes,
Hector Jimenez-Villazana, Roger Lopez, Maria
De Los Angeles Mendez, Jose Ruelas, and Jorge
Villegas-Rodriguez.
read
story from the Denver Newspaper Agency.
Probe
Unveils Forgery on Mortgages
Investigators reportedly found that mortgage
broker Liza Bautista uses personal information
and signatures of previous good-credit borrowers
-- without their knowledge -- to obtain mortgages
on homes that borrowers with spotty credit are
led to believe belong to them.
read
story from King 5 News.
Borrowers
Profit More Than Sellers
Federal and Florida officials are investigating
real estate agents involved in selling properties
that had mortgages made out for a combined $1.6
million more than the asking prices -- with
at least one incident resulting in $300,000
of the purchase price going back to the buyers
or to third parties.
read
story from the Tampa Tribune.
Actor,
Mortgage Fraud Victim
Action star Wesley Snipes compared the tax-fraud
charges he currently faces to the foreclosure
case on his home a few years ago, noting that
the foreclosed property had a mortgage that
was obtained by financial individuals under
his name without his knowledge.
read
story from the Orlando-Sentinel.
November
20, 2006
Firm
Owner Named in Fraud Suit
America's Mortgage Banc alleges that Brian Urbanowski,
owner of XEZ Inc., submitted a false application
to pocket $120,000 from a loan on a run-down
house that had its value inflated.
read
story from the Chicago Tribune .
Weatherman
Admits Fraud
Ex-meteorologist Neal Pascal agreed to plead
guilty for his involvement in buying properties
he requested sellers inflate sales prices to
in order to obtain loan proceeds that would
basically refund the down payments he gave on
the homes.
read
story from Knox News.
3
Face Equity Scam Trial
Lonni Ashlock and Ronald Buhler and notary public
Sue Walls must go to trial for allegedly participating
in a scheme in which equity was taken from delinquent
borrowers who were convinced into signing deeds
to their homes for a fraction of the value to
save their homes.
read
story from the Modesto Bee.
Ex-School
CFO Admits Fraud
Mordecai L. Smith, the former chief financial
officer of Virginia Beach Schools, was sentenced
for 5 years for fraudulent practices, including
convincing a person to apply for and obtain
a $360,000 loan to purchase a home in which
he resided.
read
story from WVEC.
Reverse
Mortgage Schemes 101
Amongst the reverse loan scams seniors fall
victims to is paying thousands of dollars for
reverse mortgage information, which HUD makes
available free of charge.
read
story from Best Syndication.
November
17, 2006
Law
Firm Fraudsters
Several partners from defunct law firm Hankin,
Hanig, Stall, Caplicki, Redl and Curtin, have
pleaded guilty to unrelated actions such as
bribing mortgage companies for referral closings,
violations of RESPA, and the latest, stealing
from escrow accounts.
read
story from the Poughkeepsie Journal.
Mortgage
Fraud Red Flags
Being encouraged to falsify information on a
mortgage application is only one of the many
signs loan prospects and borrowers should pick
up on to avoid being duped, mortgage bankers
said.
read
story from the Ann Arbor News.
Mortgage
Fraud: An Epidemic
In a recent seminar, FBI agent Jim Brennan discussed
the prevalence of mortgage fraud and how lenders
and other mortgage insiders can help the agency
open more cases to combat the problem.
read
story from the Ann Arbor News.
November
16, 2006
Financial
Analyst Accused of Fraud
A complaint alleged that independent financial
analyst, Spyro C. Contogouris, illegally pocketed
faked expenses, tax refunds and mortgage proceeds
from 1997 to 2002.
read
story from the New York Times.
"Clyde"
Finally Caught
A potential 400-year prison sentence awaits
Matthew Bevan Cox, who with a female partner
forms the "Bonnie and Clyde" of mortgage
fraud for stealing millions of dollars through
the loans, was captured at his home in Nashville,
Tenn. after being one of the nation's "most
wanted" for some time.
read
story from CNN Money.
3
Found Guilty of Fraud
A federal jury found Richard Lucas, Kimberly
Castle and Kenneth Stalnaker guilty of participating
in mortgage flipping scheme of distressed properties
that were falsely appraised so as to generate
proceeds from mortgages.
read
story from the Hattiesburg American.
Real
Estate Co. Investigated
Investigators searched the home of an official
affiliated with URB Inc., a real estate buying
company that police believe provided the homes
gang member Terry Faulkner would fix and mortgage
broker Rodrigo Navascues would falsify application
information for to approve unsophisticated investors
for mortgages.
read
story from the Chicago Tribune. |
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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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