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…

PROVIDENCE – Former Real Estate Attorney Louis Marandola, 42, of Providence and Brian R. McCaffrey, 38, of Warwick, a former licensed loan originator, have been sentenced to federal prison for their participation in a scheme to obtain money they were not entitled to from financial institutions and individuals through mortgage loans, residential property sales and fees. On Thursday, Louis Marandola was sentenced to 48 months in federal prison…

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: victoriaadvocate.com By Jessica Priest April 4, 2017 at 10:42 p.m. Updated April 5, 2017 at 6 a.m Upcoming court dates for other defendants Debra Smith Gillespie, former executive director, May 3 Roger Earl Clark, maintenance director, May 1 David Keith Norrell, contractor, May 1 Robert Berry, contractor, May 15 Terre Horvath-Berry, wife of Robert Berry, May 15 One of six people charged with stealing from the Victoria Housing…

(Source: www.guampdn.com) A judge sentenced a former employee of the Guam Housing and Urban Renewal Authority to 1 year and 1 day in prison for accepting bribes, but she will only spend 30 days behind bars. Antonia Mayo-San Nicolas admitted to taking bribes from tenants to qualify them for the federally-funded Section 8 housing program when she was a housing specialist for GHURA. Court documents state she took bribes between September 2014 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…

BOSTON – The owner of a trash company was charged today in federal court in Boston in connection with defrauding the operator of the Fall River Landfill out of approximately $473,000 in disposal fees.   Stephen P. Aguiar, Jr., 47, of Westport, was charged with three counts of mail fraud. Aguiar was one of the owners and operators of Cleanway Disposal & Recycling, Inc., a trash removal and recycling company, and JS Aguiar Enterprises,…

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…

NEWARK, N.J. – A former salesman at Bayway Lumber, a Linden, New Jersey company that sold commercial and industrial products to numerous public and private entities, was charged today with defrauding Bayway Lumber customers and knowingly making false statements before a federal grand jury, Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick announced. Adam Martignetti, 43, of South River, New Jersey, is charged by indictment with one count 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.…

(Source: patch.com) ELIZABETH, NJ — A Union County man is among five more people to be charged criminally Thursday with filing fraudulent applications for federal relief funds related to Superstorm Sandy, Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino announced. James Fomuke, 58, of Elizabeth was among those arrested. He allegedly filed fraudulent applications following Superstorm Sandy for FEMA assistance and a state grant under the Homeowner…

(Source: The Guam Daily Post) Former Guam Housing and Urban Renewal Authority legal counsel Mark Smith denied to the GHURA board any financial interest that conflicted with his role with the agency, but an indictment alleged that he did have a conflict, which he tried to disguise through a series of allegedly fraudulent bank and real estate transactions. In March 2011, Smith executed a contract with GHURA to serve as its legal counsel, and "…

(Source: Kaum News) Unsealed in the District Court of Guam today, two men have been indicted in the federal court for 56 counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and theft of government property, to name a few. Attorney Mark Smith was hired by GHURA as legal counsel in March 2011, and was prohibited from receiving funds directly or indirectly during his term. Court documents state he was a landlord under the Section 8 program and worked…

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

Source: Source: Victoria Advocate) By Jessica Priest March 7, 2017 at 10:36 p.m. The Victoria Housing Authority is in the midst of its fourth management shake- up in about two years. Its board of directors fired Louis Boldt during a Feb. 28 meeting. Boldt replaced longtime executive director Debbie Gillespie, who resigned in October 2015 after the Office of Inspector General found the housing authority had mismanaged more than $780,000 from…

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’…

(Source: nj.com) A former accountant for the City of Bayonne was sentenced to 21 months in prison today for accepting bribes in return for funneling hundreds of thousands in federal grant money to a local contractor. Anselmo "Rocky" Crisonino, 56, was also sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $439,000 in restitution, U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman announced. Crisonino's sentencing comes three years after he appeared in…

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…