SCRANTON - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that Ignacio Beato, age 46, of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, was charged in a one count criminal information on April 26, 2017, with conspiracy to engage in monetary transactions through a financial institution, with funds that were the proceeds of wire fraud. According to United States Attorney Bruce D. Brandler, the information alleges that Beato...

Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that TIMOTHY W. BURKE, also known as “Bill Burke,” “William Burke,” “Kerry Saunders,” “Pat Riley,” “Jim Caldwell,” “Jim Saunders,” “Tom Morrisey,” “Jimmy,” “Phil Burke,” “Phil,” “Burt,” “James Burke,” and “M. Soler,” 65, formerly of Easton, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to 108 months of imprisonment, followed by three...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Three co-conspirators who operated a nationwide, multi-year “home mortgage modification” fraud that scammed hundreds of victims out of at least $10 million were convicted today by a federal jury. “These defendants scammed hundreds of individuals and families who were trying desperately to save their homes,” said Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “Their crimes were rooted in dishonesty and...

(Source: www.toledoblade.com) Calling their crimes “morally reprehensible,” a federal judge on Monday sent four people involved in a phony home-loan modification scheme to prison. U.S. District Court Judge James Carr ordered Christopher J. Howder, 40, of Perrysburg to spend seven years in prison and pay $561,799 in restitution. Howder pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, six counts of mail fraud, and seven...

Source: pressherald.com) A Gorham woman has pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $91,000 from the South Portland Housing Authority. Jamie Hussey, 35, pleaded guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court to committing federal program fraud, said acting U.S. Attorney Richard W. Murphy in a news release. Citing court records, Murphy said that Hussey embezzled $91,577 from the housing authority from February 2014 to September 2016. Prosecutors said...

SAN JUAN, P.R – On March 29, 2017, a federal grand jury in the District of Puerto Rico returned a one count indictment charging Tommy Rudy Habibe-Arias with making false statements in an application for a Home Equity Conversion Mortgage loan (commonly known as a “Reverse Mortgage”), announced United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico, Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez. The U.S. Department Housing & Urban Development- Office of...

BOSTON – A Methuen attorney and a Methuen loan officer pleaded guilty yesterday in connection with a sweeping conspiracy to defraud banks and mortgage companies by engaging in sham “short” sales of residential properties in Merrimack Valley. Separately, a Methuen real estate broker was arrested on Wednesday, March 22, 2017, on related charges, and a Dunstable attorney was sentenced after pleading guilty to participating in the same conspiracy....

Testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies

BROOKLYN, NY – Earlier today, David Gotterup was sentenced at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, New York, to 15 years in prison for leading a loan modification scheme that defrauded distressed homeowners. Gotterup pleaded guilty on June 16, 2016, to conspiring to commit wire, mail and bank fraud. In addition, as part of the sentence, the Court ordered Gotterup to pay $2,500,050 in forfeiture.[1] The sentence was announced by Robert L. Capers...

LOS ANGELES – Two defendants linked to a mortgage fraud scheme that cost at least $2.4 million when fraudulently purchased homes went into foreclosure have been sentenced to federal prison. The case involves a scheme to fraudulently obtain mortgages for residential properties through the use of “straw buyers” – individuals who pretend to purchase the properties and have no intention of living in the homes. In this case, the straw buyers’...

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar sentenced Michael Gerard Camphor, age 60, of Baltimore, to 27 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release on charges arising from the fraudulent purchase of four properties in Baltimore, using fraudulent loan documentation and straw purchasers, resulting in losses of over $735,000. At the sentencing on February 28, 2016, Judge Bredar also ordered Camphor to pay...

Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that a federal grand jury sitting in New Haven has returned a nine-count indictment charging URMILA SRI THAKUR, also known as Urmila Buddhu-Thakur and Indro Buddhu-Thakur, 72, of Wethersfield, with conspiracy, mail fraud and money laundering offenses related to a fraudulent debt elimination scheme. The indictment was returned on February 15, 2017. THAKUR...

Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that BRADFORD BARNEYS, 51, of Odenton, Maryland, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to conspiring with Timothy W. Burke in a long-running fraud scheme that targeted distressed homeowners throughout Connecticut. BARNEYS is an attorney licensed to practice in Connecticut and has an office in Bridgeport. According to court...

Steven Hameed, 57, of Chester, Pennsylvania, was sentenced today to 97 months in prison for his multi-year scheme to steal government homes and file false tax forms against various police officers and government officials, announced Acting United States Attorney Louis D. Lappen. Hameed’s co-conspirators, Darnell Young, 49, and Damond Palmer, 42, were sentenced in October 2016 to 40 months imprisonment, and 1 day in prison, respectively, for...

Robert L. Capers, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Christina D. Scaringi, Special Agent in Charge, North East Region, Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and Jay N. Lerner, Inspector General for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation announced the settlement of claims against Franklin First Financial, Ltd., its Chief Executive Officer, Frederick Assini, its Chief...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – A 14-count federal indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Providence charges two individuals, Hasan Hussain, 55, of Princeton, N.J., and Ricardo Abreu, 50, of Cranston, R.I., with allegedly participating in a conspiracy to defraud financial institutions, investors and financially distressed homeowners of at least 14 properties in Providence, Pawtucket and Cranston of fees, rental income, mortgage payment funds, property...

Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that TIMOTHY W. BURKE, also known as “Bill Burke,” “William Burke,” “Kerry Saunders,” “Pat Riley,” “Jim Caldwell,” “Jim Saunders,” “Tom Morrisey,” “Jimmy,” “Phil Burke,” “Phil,” “Burt,” “James Burke,” and “M. Soler,” 65, formerly of Easton, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to fraud and tax evasion offenses stemming from...

United States Attorney Andrew M. Luger announced an indictment charging KYLE LEWIS KIRSCHMAN, 52, and HOLLY KAY BLOOM, 37, with conspiring to commit public assistance fraud.  The indictment was filed in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis on December 21, 2016. According to the indictment, KIRSCHMAN owned a house in Mankato, Minn. The house was divided into two apartments. KIRSCHMAN occupied apartment 1. On June 13, 2006, KIRSCHMAN and BLOOM...

(Source: KEYC 12 News) MANKATO, Minn. - Two Mankato residents are each facing a federal charge for conspiracy to commit public assistance fraud. The charges were filed in December by U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger against 52-year-old Kyle Kirschman and 37-year-old Holly Bloom. It was the result of an investigation between the Blue Earth County Sheriff's Office Fraud Investigator and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Kirschman...

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – James Bayfield, a self-described mortgage specialist, was convicted late yesterday by a federal jury in Brooklyn on all four counts charging bank fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud for his role in defrauding mortgage lending institutions and large financial institutions, including Amtrust Bank (Amtrust), Bank of America N.A. (BOA) and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (Chase), in a multi-million-dollar mortgage...