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…

PLANO, Texas – A 64-year-old Grand Prairie, Texas man has been sentenced to federal prison for his role in a conspiracy to commit bank fraud and perjury in the Eastern District of Texas, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Brit Featherston today. Melvin Ray Layman pleaded guilty on July 20, 2016, to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and conspiracy t commit perjury and was sentenced to 51 months in federal prison on Jan. 11, 2017 by U.S. District Judge…

United Shore Financial Services LLC (USFS) has agreed to pay the United States $48 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by knowingly originating and underwriting mortgage loans insured by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Federal Housing Administration (FHA) that did not meet applicable requirements, the Justice Department announced today.  USFS is headquartered in Troy, Michigan…

(Source: housingwire.com) A little over five years ago, the government sued Allied Home Mortgage, its various entities, and its president and CEO, Jim Hodge for $834 million, claiming that Allied engaged in repeated fraud against the Federal Housing Administration over a 10-year period. The government claimed that Allied Home Mortgage, Allied Home Mortgage Capital Corporation, at Hodge’s direction committed repeated violations of the False…

(Source: chicagolawbulletin.com) A federal judge has found an Aurora attorney liable for more than $10 million after previously finding he filed false documents with the government. In a 12-page memorandum opinion, U.S. District Judge John J. Tharp Jr. ruled sole practitioner Robert S. Luce owes the government $3,452,499 in damages for 237 defaulted mortgage loans his mortgage company MDR Mortgage Corp. certified while it remained an approved…

HOUSTON – A federal jury has found the entities formerly known as Allied Home Mortgage Capital Corporation (Allied Capital) and Allied Home Mortgage Corporation (Allied Corporation) as well as president and CEO Jim C. Hodge liable in connection with more than a decade of fraudulent misconduct related to Allied’s participation in the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage insurance program. The jury returned the verdicts late yesterday…

Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, William F. Sweeney Jr., the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), and Christina Scaringi, the Special Agent-in-Charge of the Northeast Region of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”), today announced the unsealing of an Indictment charging five defendants with conspiracy to…

(Source: theislandnow.com) Daniel Melamed, a Great Neck resident and Brooklyn real estate developer, was indicted for the second time in two years last Tuesday for schemes involving alleged residential mortgage fraud and larcenies, the state attorney general’s office announced.   Melamed, 40, and six others allegedly defrauded banks and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development through the use of shell corporations, forged…

(realestaterama.com) BROOKLYN – (RealEstateRama) — Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced today the indictment of Brooklyn real estate developer Daniel Melamed, 40, his employee Carmen Morales, 51, former employee Denise Morales, 29, and associates Curt Joseph, 48, Christopher Magliocca, 29, Abraham Perez, 66, and David Soufeh, 37, for their roles in multiple schemes involving alleged residential mortgage fraud and larcenies throughout…

A Bayonne, New Jersey, man was sentenced today to 15 months in prison for paying $65,000 in bribes to a Bayonne public official in return for the public official’s assistance in securing projects funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.   Joseph Arrigo, 47, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Peter G. Sheridan to an information charging him with one count…