Financial Freedom has agreed to a settlement with the United States of more than $89 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act and the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA) in connection with its participation in a federally insured Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECM) or ‘reverse mortgage’ program, the Justice Department announced today. Financial Freedom is headquartered in…

(Source: fox13memphis.com) MEMPHIS, Tenn. - A local real estate investor has pled guilty to a charge of bank fraud, according to the Department of Justice. In September of 2016, Thomas L. Boyd, 44, was indicted by a federal grand jury in connection with a scheme to fraudulently obtain mortgage loans. The indictment alleged Boyd, the owner of Wonderful Properties, LLC gave false statements and documents to Regions Bank, First Tennessee Bank…

Memphis, TN – A Memphis real estate investor has pled guilty to a charge of bank fraud. Lawrence J. Laurenzi, Acting U.S. Attorney, announced the guilty plea today. In September 2016, Thomas L. Boyd, 44, was indicted by a federal grand jury in connection with a scheme to fraudulently obtain mortgage loans. The indictment alleged that Boyd, the owner of Wonderful Properties, LLC made false statements and presented false documents to Regions Bank…

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…

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.…

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’…