A California real estate executive was sentenced today to one year and one day in prison, followed by two years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a fine of $200,000 for engaging in an extensive multi-year conspiracy to falsify financial statements.According to court documents and evidence presented at sentencing, Tyler Ross, 38, of San Francisco, and formerly of Michigan, served as co-chief executive officer of ROCO Real Estate LLC and…

Defendant Falsely Claimed Eligibility for Housing VouchersSAN FRANCISCO – Gregory Finkelson was sentenced to one year in prison for theft of government property in connection with his fraudulent receipt of hundreds of thousands of dollars in low-income housing benefits, announced United States Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey; Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agent in Charge Robert K. Tripp; U.S. Department of Housing and Urban…

The City of Los Angeles has agreed to pay $38.2 million to resolve allegations that it knowingly failed to meet federal accessibility requirements when it sought and used Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) grant funds for multifamily affordable housing.HUD provides grant funds to Los Angeles and other cities to support housing and community development, including building and rehabilitating affordable multifamily housing units.…

Defendant Admitted His Role in a Scheme to Fraudulently Originate More Than $55 Million in Residential Mortgages Using Fake Documents to Fraudulently Boost Loan Applicant IncomeSAN FRANCISCO – Tjoman Buditaslim pleaded guilty in federal court in San Francisco yesterday to wire fraud conspiracy, announced United States Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey; Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General (HUD-OIG), Western Region…

SAVANNAH, GA:  The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Georgia, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and its Office of Inspector General (HUD OIG) hosted a Savannah roundtable for community members and organizations as part of the Justice Department’s Sexual Harassment in Housing Initiative.“Sexual harassment or abuse by a landlord is never acceptable,”…

FRESNO, Calif. — German Antonio Lopez-Velasquez, 55, of Modesto, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to commit bank fraud, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.According to court documents, German Antonio Lopez-Velasquez, a real estate agent, worked with Lisa Santos, 48, of Long Beach, a mortgage loan officer, and Marko Antonio Lopez, 27, of Modesto, a real estate agent and notary public, to obtain fraudulent mortgage loans for properties…

Defendant Admitted He Lied on Government Forms and Wrongfully Claimed Eligibility for Housing Assistance for More Than a DecadeSAN FRANCISCO – Gregory Finkelson, a San Francisco resident, has pleaded guilty to one count of theft of government property in connection with his fraudulent receipt of hundreds of thousands of dollars in low-income housing benefits, announced United States Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey; Federal Bureau of Investigation (…

The Justice Department announced today that Iraj Shambayati, a landlord who owns and manages over 45 residential properties in and around Savannah, Georgia, has agreed to pay $600,000 to resolve allegations that he violated the Fair Housing Act (FHA) by sexually harassing and retaliating against his female tenants for over 15 years.“No female tenant should have to endure sexual harassment and abuse in the sanctity of her own home,” said…

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Robert Kirby Wells, 64, of Woodland, was sentenced today to two years in prison for aggravated identity theft, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.According to court documents, Wells served as an insurance broker for a company located in Denver, Colorado, that owned multifamily and commercial properties throughout the United States. Wells was responsible for obtaining several types of insurance coverage for the…

LOS ANGELES – United States Attorney Bill Essayli today announced the formation of the Homelessness Fraud and Corruption Task Force, which will investigate fraud, waste, abuse, and corruption involving funds allocated toward the eradication of homelessness within the seven-county jurisdiction of the Central District of California.This task force will be comprised of federal prosecutors from the Major Frauds Section, the Public Corruption and…

ATLANTA - Matthew Allen Dickason, a disbarred attorney who was previously licensed to practice law in the State of Georgia, has been sentenced to federal prison for embezzling more than $3 million from his clients. Dickason used the money for personal purposes and created phony accounting records to cover up his theft.                                   …

ATLANTA – U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Inspector General Rae Oliver Davis hosted a Safe Housing Summit on December 14, 2023, to promote health and safety for tenants living in HUD-assisted housing.“Our office is determined to address inequities in our district that exist in underserved communities who must heavily rely on HUD’s housing assistance programs,” said U.S. Attorney Buchanan…

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Robert Kirby Wells, 64, of Woodland, pleaded guilty today to one count of aggravated identity theft, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.According to court documents, Wells served as an insurance broker for a company located in Denver, Colorado, that owned multifamily and commercial properties throughout the United States. Wells was responsible for obtaining several types of insurance coverage for the company’s…

Tjoman Buditaslim, Travis Holasek, Jose Alfonso Tellez, and Jose De Jesus Martinez are Alleged to Have Prepared and Submitted Fraudulent Loan Applications Resulting in More than $55 Million in Residential MortgagesSAN FRANCISCO - A federal grand jury has indicted Tjoman Buditaslim (a/k/a “Joe Lim”), Travis Holasek, Jose Alfonso Tellez, and Jose De Jesus Martinez, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft in…

MACON, Ga. – The former payroll clerk for the Milledgeville Housing Authority (MHA) has admitted she stole $575,000 by overpaying herself and entered a guilty plea in federal court today for her crime.Jennifer Kay Smith, 49, of Eatonton, Georgia, pleaded guilty to one count of federal program theft before U.S. District Senior Judge Marc Treadwell today. Smith faces a maximum sentence of ten years imprisonment to be followed by three years of…

ATLANTA - Matthew Allen Dickason, who was the owner of an Atlanta law firm, has pleaded guilty to federal charges arising from a scheme to defraud the firm’s clients. “It is shameful for an attorney to abuse the trust placed in him by his clients, but that is exactly what Dickason did,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan.  “He misappropriated millions of dollars belonging to his clients for his personal benefit with no regard for how his…

A California real estate executive pleaded guilty yesterday to engaging in an extensive multi-year conspiracy to falsify financial statements. According to court documents, Tyler Ross, 37, formerly of Michigan, served as co-chief executive officer of ROCO Real Estate LLC and ROCO Management LLC, both of which are based in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. The ROCO companies, and related entities, operated as a commercial real estate firm engaged in…

ATLANTA - Maurice Lawson has been sentenced to federal prison for obtaining nearly a half a million dollars by submitting multiple fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (“EIDL”) applications. “Congress enacted the Paycheck Protection Program to provide emergency financial assistance to millions of Americans suffering the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lawson took advantage of a federal…

SAN FRANCISCO - A federal grand jury in San Francisco indicted Gregory Finkelson with conspiracy, theft of government property, and money laundering, announced United States Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey, Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge Robert K. Tripp, United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) Special Agent in Charge Mark Kaminsky, and IRS-Criminal Investigation…

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today announced the sentencing of a Los Angeles broker, who was involved in a mortgage loan fraud scheme in Southern California. The broker, Alex Ashod Dadourian, defrauded lenders by using forged documents and fraudulent records to obtain more than $8 million in mortgage loans for his clients in order to earn commissions for himself. Today, he was convicted on 91 felony counts of mortgage…