PRESS RELEASE


Unlicensed Mortgage Broker Gets 3 Years in Prison for Fraud

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.--(March 25, 2008)--Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced that a former New York City resident was convicted of organized scheme to defraud for her participation in a mortgage fraud operation. Melissa Sabrina Miranda was sentenced to three years in prison, to be followed by 10 years probation, and must pay $1.4 million in restitution to multiple lenders in South Florida. She is also banned from the real estate licensure business. The case was prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office of Statewide Prosecution.

Interthinx consulted with more than 30 industry professionals on the now-timely storyline and training material. "Fraud Angels" focuses on a foreclosure rescue con artist in Minnesota and a family-run real estate investment club in California that are mysteriously tied together. "When we consulted with industry experts well over a year ago, they were certain that we'd see record high foreclosures at this time, and that this story would need to be told," stated Mike Zwerner, senior vice president of business development and marketing for Interthinx. "According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, 1.4 percent of all mortgages are currently in foreclosure, and a wave of adjustable rate mortgage resets are expected in May and June. Criminals will no doubt take advantage of struggling homeowners and look for lenders with penetrable, or non-existent, fraud detection programs."

Miranda, 28, was an unlicensed mortgage broker who defrauded lenders into paying inflated loans on five Florida properties located in Broward, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and St. Lucie counties. She and a co-defendant perpetrated the scheme for just over one year. The case was investigated by the Department of Financial Services and Division of Insurance Regulation.

Co-defendant Arturo Ildefonso, also recently of New York, was also charged with organized scheme to defraud and was sentenced earlier this month to 18 months in prison, to be followed by 10 years of probation. Both Ildefonso and Miranda were extradited from New York and must also reimburse the state the costs of investigation and prosecution. Today’s sentence was returned by Judge Andrew Siegel of the 17th Judicial Circuit.





SOURCE: Office of the Attorney General of Florida