| |
Miami, Fla. (Dec. 4, 2008) R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Jonathan I. Solomon, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Betty N. Stewart, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division, Alex Hager, Acting Commissioner, Office of Financial Regulation, and Alex Sink, Chief Financial Officer, Department of Financial Services, announced the sentencing of three Palm Beach County residents for their participation in a mortgage fraud scheme totaling more than $6.5 million.
Defendant Lauren Jasky, 30, was sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks to 36 months’ imprisonment, to be followed by 5 years of supervised release. On December 1, 2008, Judge Middlebrooks sentenced defendant Ralph Michel, a/k/a Ralph Duverneau, 36, to 30 months’ imprisonment, to be followed by 4 years of supervised release. On November 19, 2008, Judge Middlebrooks sentenced defendant Berry Louidort, 27, to 37 months’ imprisonment, to be followed by 5 years of supervised release. All three defendants previously pled guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and mail fraud. Defendants Michel and Louidort also pled guilty to a money laundering charge.
According to court documents and court testimony, this investigation began with an audit conducted by the Florida Office of Financial Regulation into 24 sub-prime mortgage loans initiated by Compass Mortgage Service, Inc. (“Compass Mortgage”), located at 7015 Beracasa Way, Ste 104, Boca Raton, FL. The initial audit revealed that the loans included 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 fact, however, 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.
To execute the scheme, the defendants fraudulently bought and sold residential property in Palm Beach County, FL. Defendants Louidort and Michel received large assignment and marketing fees and Jasky received mortgage brokerage fees. The defendants prepared fraudulent loan applications for the purchasers and submitted them to the lenders. The applications included materially false information about the borrowers’ employment verification, income, funds on deposit, and rent history.
This prosecution is the result of the efforts of the Palm Beach County Mortgage Fraud Task Force. This Task Force is composed of federal and state law enforcement agencies, including the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida, the Internal Revenue Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development - Office of Inspector General, the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs - Office of Inspector General, the United States Probation Office, the Office of Financial Regulation, the Department of Financial Services, and the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.
Mr. Acosta commended the investigative efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service, the Office of Financial Regulation, the Department of Financial Services and the members of the Palm Beach Mortgage Fraud Task Force in this matter. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lothrop Morris.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
SOURCE: United States Attorney's Office
Southern District of Florida
|
