(Source: housingwire.com) A little over five years ago, the government sued Allied Home Mortgage, its various entities, and its president and CEO, Jim Hodge for $834 million, claiming that Allied engaged in repeated fraud against the Federal Housing Administration over a 10-year period. The government claimed that Allied Home Mortgage, Allied Home Mortgage Capital Corporation, at Hodge’s direction committed repeated violations of the False...

(Source: chicagolawbulletin.com) A federal judge has found an Aurora attorney liable for more than $10 million after previously finding he filed false documents with the government. In a 12-page memorandum opinion, U.S. District Judge John J. Tharp Jr. ruled sole practitioner Robert S. Luce owes the government $3,452,499 in damages for 237 defaulted mortgage loans his mortgage company MDR Mortgage Corp. certified while it remained an approved...

HOUSTON – A federal jury has found the entities formerly known as Allied Home Mortgage Capital Corporation (Allied Capital) and Allied Home Mortgage Corporation (Allied Corporation) as well as president and CEO Jim C. Hodge liable in connection with more than a decade of fraudulent misconduct related to Allied’s participation in the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage insurance program. The jury returned the verdicts late yesterday...

Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, William F. Sweeney Jr., the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), and Christina Scaringi, the Special Agent-in-Charge of the Northeast Region of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”), today announced the unsealing of an Indictment charging five defendants with conspiracy to...

(Source: theislandnow.com) Daniel Melamed, a Great Neck resident and Brooklyn real estate developer, was indicted for the second time in two years last Tuesday for schemes involving alleged residential mortgage fraud and larcenies, the state attorney general’s office announced.   Melamed, 40, and six others allegedly defrauded banks and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development through the use of shell corporations, forged...

(USAO, CT) Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that MICHELLE LEFAOSEU, also known as “Michelle Bennett,” “Michelle Lee” and “Michelle Page,” 42, of Huntington Beach, Calif., was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill in Bridgeport to 12 months and one day of imprisonment, followed by one year of supervised release, for participating in an extensive mortgage loan...

(Source: USAO, CT) Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that KOWIT YUKTANON, also known as “Eric Cannon” and “Aaron Brock,” 32, of Huntington Beach, Calif., and CUONG HUY KING, also known as “James Nolan” and “Jimmy, 32, of Westminster, Calif., have each been sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill in Bridgeport to 18 months of imprisonment, followed by one year of supervised...

(Source: beverlyreview.net) A third of four men charged last year with squatting in several Beverly/Morgan Park homes has been found guilty. Torrez Moore, 57, was convicted on Oct. 21 of Class X theft, Class X financial institution fraud and continuing a financial crimes enterprise following a three-day trial at the Leighton Criminal Courts Building, 2600 S. California Ave. Moore, along with David Farr, was charged in July 2015; that December,...

(Source: USAO, CT) Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that VICTOR CUEVAS, 52, of Bristol, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer in New Haven to one year of probation and a $1,000 fine for 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,...

BOSTON – The U.S. Attorney’s Office has reached a $1,025,000 civil settlement with First American Mortgage Trust, d/b/a NXTLoan.com, a small mortgage lender based in Brighton, Mass., and its founder and CEO, Barry S. Polack, in connection with allegations that they submitted false insurance claims on mortgages insured by the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Federal Housing Administration (FHA). The settlement resolves...

(Source: USAO, NY) BUFFALO, N.Y.-U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr. announced today that Alagi Samba, 46, of Bronx, NY, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution, before U.S. District Judge Laurence J. Vilardo. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a $1,000,000 fine. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kathleen A. Lynch and Elizabeth Moellering, who are handling the case, stated that...

(Source: nj.com) A former West New York commissioner will spend about a year on house arrest for collecting nearly $150,000 in rental income while being in default of a federal mortgage loan. Ruben Vargas pleaded guilty to equity skimming in May after obtaining a $417,449 loan through the Department of Housing and Urban Development to buy a two-family home at 5512 Grant Place. Vargas collected about $3,000 each month in rental income from the...

(USAO, CT) Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that JOHN VESCERA, 60, of Dana Point, Calif., was sentenced today by Chief U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall in New Haven to 12 months and one day of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for false advertising and misusing a government seal in connection with the provision of mortgage modification services. According to court...

(Source: USAO, TN) Memphis, TN – A real estate investor has been charged in a 14-count indictment that alleges he defrauded three banks and a mortgage lending business. Edward L. Stanton III, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, announced the indictment today. According to the indictment, Thomas L. Boyd, 43, of Memphis, Tennessee, owned a real estate agency, Wonderful Properties, LLC. Between April 2006 and September 2014, Boyd...

Regions Bank (Regions) has agreed to pay $52.4 million to the United States to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by knowingly originating and underwriting mortgage loans insured by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Federal Housing Administration (FHA) that did not meet applicable requirements, the Department of Justice announced today.  Regions is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama....

(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...