(Source: longisland.com) Brooklyn, NY - November 27, 2017 - Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced that Brooklyn real estate developer Daniel Melamed pleaded guilty today in Kings County Supreme Court to a 13-count indictment, including Residential Mortgage Fraud in the Second Degree and two counts of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, class C felonies; as well as four counts of Forgery in the Second Degree, four counts of Criminal…

John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that URMILA SRI THAKUR, also known as Urmila Buddhu-Thakur and Indro Buddhu-Thakur, 73, of Wethersfield, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford to four years of probation, the first four months of which THAKUR must serve in home confinement, for her role in a fraudulent debt elimination scheme. According to court documents and…

A former Hubbard attorney who gave up his law practice as he was about to disciplined now faces federal charges. Federal authorities have issued a bill of information charging Richard James Lacivita with bank fraud and making a false statement on on a loan. In most cases, prosecutors issue a bill of information instead of an indictment when the defendant intends to plead guilty to the charge or charges. Lacivita, who now lives in Canfield,…

NEWARK, N.J. – The former executive director of a Newark-based childcare and community program and a partner in a political fundraising and consulting company today admitted committing wire fraud and tax evasion, Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick announced. Kiburi D. Tucker, 42, of Newark, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Jose L. Linares in Newark federal court to an information charging him with one count of wire fraud and…

Testimony Before the United States House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.

(Source: bgdailynews.com) The former owner of a company involved in the short sales of houses subject to foreclosure admitted in court Friday to defrauding the Federal Housing Administration. Deena Brooks pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Louisville to a count of making a false statement or report to the FHA. The case against Brooks was unsealed Friday. Brooks was the president and sole owner and operator of Kentucky Promise and also…

(Source: ocregister.com) SANTA ANA — A Coto De Caza man who in YouTube videos promised to help homeowners save their homes from foreclosure was sentenced Friday to eight years in prison after bilking more than 500 people out of $2.2 million. Kevin Frank Rasher, who earlier this year pleaded guilty to a dozen counts of mail fraud, was sentenced to 97 months behind bars and ordered to pay about $2.24 million in restitution for the money he stole…

Joon H. Kim, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Dane Narode, Associate General Counsel for Program Enforcement for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”), and Christina Scaringi, the Special Agent in Charge of HUD’s Office of the Inspector General (“HUD-OIG”), Northeast Region, announced today that the United States has settled a civil mortgage fraud lawsuit against RESIDENTIAL HOME…

Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that URMILA SRI THAKUR, also known as Urmila Buddhu-Thakur and Indro Buddhu-Thakur, 72, of Wethersfield, pleaded guilty today in New Haven federal court to a money laundering offense stemming from a fraudulent debt elimination scheme. According to court documents and statements made in court, from 2009 to June 2012, THAKUR, her former husband, Deowraj “Deo”…

Memphis, TN – A Memphis real estate investor has been sentenced to 30 months in federal prison for his role in a scheme to fraudulently obtain mortgage loans. Lawrence J. Laurenzi, Acting U.S. Attorney, announced the sentence today. An indictment returned last September by a federal grand jury alleged Thomas L. Boyd, 44, the owner of Wonderful Properties, LLC, made false statements and presented false documents to Regions Bank, First Tennesse…

Eugene Peter Kenworthy, Jr., age 50, of Ambler, PA, was charged today by Indictment with wire fraud, false statements for the purpose of influencing the Federal Housing Administration, aggravated identity theft, and failure to file a tax return, announced Acting United States Attorney Louis Lappen. If convicted the defendant faces a maximum possible sentence is 166 years’ imprisonment, five years of supervised release, a $5,050,000 fine, and a…

(Source: skyvalleychronicle.com) (SEATTLE, WA.) -- The owner of a now defunct Tukwila, WA based real estate escrow firm was indicted last month by a federal grand jury on ten counts of bank fraud, and one count each of mail and wire fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes in Seattle Friday. Lori Lynn Andrew, 48, now of Cashmere, Washington near Wenatchee, the owner of Hartman Escrow, Inc., was arrested and arraigned on the indictment…

LITTLE ROCK—Patrick C. Harris, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, Tracey D. Montaño, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Criminal Investigation Division, and Phyllis G. Robinson, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)—Office of Inspector General, announced today that Chief United States District Judge Brian S. Miller sentenced Rhonda Williams, 50, and…

TRENTON –Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino announced that five additional individuals were charged criminally today with filing fraudulent applications for federal relief funds related to Superstorm Sandy. Since March 2014, the Attorney General’s Office has filed criminal charges against 96 people for allegedly engaging in this type of fraud, including the five individuals just charged. The Attorney General’s Office is continuing its…

CITYSIDE MANAGEMENT CORPORATION PAYS $4.3 MILLION TO RESOLVE FALSE CLAIMS ACT ALLEGATIONS Office of the United States Attorney Eastern District of California U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday, July 26, 2017 www.justice.gov/edca CONTACT: LAUREN HORWOOD PHONE: 916-554-2706 [email protected] CITYSIDE MANAGEMENT CORPORATION PAYS $4.3 MILLION TO RESOLVE FALSE CLAIMS ACT ALLEGATIONS FRESNO, Calif. —…

TRENTON, 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, today admitted his role in a scheme to defraud customers and lying to a federal grand jury, Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick announced. Adam Martignetti, 43, of South River, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Peter G. Sheridan in Trenton federal…

Tampa, FL – Acting United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow announces a civil settlement with Alexander Olympus Zarris that resolves alleged violations of the False Claims Act (“FCA”) and the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (“FIRREA”) through reverse mortgage transactions engineered by Zarris at a Tarpon Springs condominium complex. Zarris will pay $475,000 to address the damage his conduct caused to a…

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Three California residents were sentenced today to a combined 39 years in prison for their roles in a nationwide, multi-year “home mortgage modification” fraud that scammed thousands of vulnerable victims out of at least $11 million.  Sammy Araya, 41, of Santa Ana, was sentenced to 20 years, Michael Henderson, 49, of Costa Mesa, was sentenced to 12 years, and Jen Seko, 36, of Anaheim, was sentenced to 7 years in prison,…

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Vice President of Porter Drywall and Black Star Drywall, Inc. was sentenced in U.S. District Court to five years of probation and ordered to pay more than $25,000 in restitution to the IRS for filing a false income tax return. As a condition of his probation, Robert E. Porter, 53, of Westerville, Ohio, must ensure that Porter Drywall subscribes to proper governmental forms and otherwise complies with all tax, labor and…

Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that BRADFORD BARNEYS, 51, of Odenton, Maryland, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to 30 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervise release, for conspiring with Timothy W. Burke in a long-running fraud scheme that targeted distressed homeowners throughout Connecticut. BARNEYS was an attorney licensed to…