(Source: USAO, CT) Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that MEHDI MOAREFIAN, also known as “Michael Miller,” 37, of Irvine, California, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill in Bridgeport to 52 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for participating in an extensive mortgage loan modification scheme.  MOAREFIAN also was ordered to pay...

(Source: USAO CT) Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that two California residents involved in an extensive mortgage loan modification scheme were sentenced today in Bridgeport federal court.  U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill sentenced SERJ GEUTSSOYAN, also known as “Anthony Kirk,” 34, of Santa Ana, to 52 months of imprisonment, and DANIEL SHIAU, also known as “Scott Decker,” 30, of...

(Source: USAO, VBA) ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Five California men have been sentenced for their roles in a nationwide home loan modification scam that victimized over 400 homeowners and families, resulting in a total loss of over $3.8 million. Roscoe Umali, 38, of Santa Ana, California, was sentenced on August 18 to 220 months in prison for leading the multi-state conspiracy.  Umali was also ordered to forfeit $3.8 million and to make...

BOSTON – The president and founder of a former Falmouth mortgage company has been charged with defrauding the Government National Mortgage Association out of nearly $3 million. Robert Pena, 67, was charged Thursday in U.S. District Court in Boston. Pena, the president and founder of the now-defunct mortgage company, Mortgage Security, Inc. (MSI), was indicted on conspiracy and wire fraud charges. He was arrested today and will appear in before...

(Source: USAO, MA) BOSTON – The president and founder of a Falmouth mortgage company was charged in U.S. District Court in Boston in connection with defrauding the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae) out of nearly $3 million. Robert Pena, 67, the president and founder of the now-defunct mortgage company, Mortgage Security, Inc. (MSI), was indicted on conspiracy and wire fraud charges.  Pena was arrested today and will...

(Source: USAO, Western District of Missouri) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that the former vice president of a Pulaski County, Mo., bank was sentenced in federal court today for leading a $4.1 million conspiracy to defraud the Small Business Administration, as well as participating in a separate and unrelated $18.2 million scheme to defraud the federal government...

(USAO, CT) ARIA MALEKI, 33, of Santa Ana, Calif., was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill in Bridgeport to 112 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for heading a mortgage loan modification scheme that defrauded more than 1,000 struggling homeowners across the United States. “This defendant presided over a scheme that preyed on struggling homeowners in Connecticut and across the United...

A former Montgomery attorney pleaded guilty on Thursday to charges related to defrauding the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. Christopher B. Pitts, 46, now of Atlanta, pleaded guilty to wire fraud affecting a financial institution, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Alabama. Pitts served as a closing attorney for the sales of all homes owned by HUD in northern and central Alabama between...

(USAO, OH) A former Youngstown man was sentenced to more than three years in prison for crimes related to the purchase of a dozen homes in Mahoning County, said Carole S. Rendon, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, and Steven D. Anthony, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Cleveland office. R. Allen Sinclair, 52, of Suwanee, Georgia, was sentenced to 41 months in prison and ordered to pay approximately $830,000 in...

A New York parole board freed Kwame Abdul-Haqq in 2004 after he served time for attempted murder, robbery, burglary and kidnapping. Just three years later, Abdul-Haqq was hired by the state of Indiana — as a prison guard. The 52-year-old Anderson man was charged Wednesday in a federal indictment with defrauding the state of Indiana out of the $175,000 he was paid when he worked as an officer at the Pendleton Correctional Facility, a maximum...

Indianapolis – United States Attorney Josh J. Minkler announced today the indictment of an Anderson man on six counts of wire fraud, two counts of making false statements on a loan or credit application, and one count of making false declarations before the court. Kwame Abdul-Haqq, 52, Anderson, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Indianapolis. Robert Borum has a lengthy criminal history in New York, including convictions for attempted...

(Source: USAO, MD) Baltimore, Maryland – Real estate agent Christopher A. Kwegan, age 59, of Randallstown, Maryland pleaded guilty today to charges arising from the fraudulent purchase of a Baltimore City property using fraudulent loan documentation and a straw purchaser. The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Kevin Perkins of the Federal Bureau of...

(Source: phillyvoice.com) Two Chester men pleaded guilty on Wednesday to a multi-year conspiracy that involved filing false deeds on Delaware County homes and false tax forms against judges, law enforcement and other government employees in an effort to intimidate them, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced. Steven Hameed, 57, and Darnell Young, 48, both of Chester, pleaded guilty to all charges spelled out in an indictment detailing their...

(USAO, IN) HAMMOND- United States Attorney David A. Capp announced that a federal grand jury in Hammond returned an indictment charging three individuals for their part in a house flipping scheme involving Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) properties. The indictment charges Sergio Garcia, Sr.,46, of Chicago, IL and Sergio Garcia, Jr., 27, of Lowell, IN with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and ten substantive counts of mail fraud...

(Post-Tribune News) A Lowell man and two Illinois men were indicted by a federal grand jury for a HUD house flipping scheme in several communities across Northwest Indiana and the southwest suburbs of Chicago. Sergio Garcia Sr., 46, of Chicago, and Sergio Garcia Jr., 27, of Lowell, each face one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and 10 counts of mail fraud. Lansing, Ill., resident Timothy D. Greene, 29, faces one count of submitting...

(USAO, CT) Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that VICTOR CUEVAS, 52, of Bristol, waived his right to indictment and pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer in New Haven to conspiring with others to commit bank fraud in connection with his home mortgage loan applications. According to court documents and statements made in court, in the summer of 2013, CUEVAS, a City of...

Earlier today, David Gotterup pleaded guilty at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, New York, to conspiracy to commit wire fraud by defrauding distressed homeowners in a loan modification scheme.  When sentenced, Gotterup faces up to 30 years in prison, as well as restitution, criminal forfeiture, and a fine. The guilty plea was announced by Robert L. Capers, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; Diego Rodriguez,...

(USAO, NJ) TRENTON, N.J. – A West New York, New Jersey, man who fraudulently obtained a federally insured mortgage for a West New York rental property today admitted intentionally failing to make loan payments while using $149,000 in rental income from the property for personal expenses, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. Ruben Vargas, 65, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Freda L. Wolfson to an information charging him with one...

(Source: USAO, MD) Baltimore, Maryland – Michael Gerard Camphor, age 60, of Baltimore, pleaded guilty today to charges arising from the fraudulent purchase of four properties in Baltimore, using fraudulent loan documentation and straw purchasers, resulting in losses of over $736,000. The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Kevin Perkins of the Federal...

(Source: USAO, CT) Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that JOHN VESCERA, 60, of Dana Point, Calif., waived his right to indictment and pleaded guilty today before Chief U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall in New Haven to false advertising and misusing a government seal in connection with the provision of mortgage modification services. According to court documents and statements made in court,...