(Source: KRGV TV) WESLACO – The Weslaco Housing Authority is under a federal inspection. Federal auditors said the agency spent thousands of taxpayer dollars on unnecessary trips. Federal authorities said they found more than $23,000 used the wrong way. The Office of Inspector General’s audit claimed: Expenses paid for a commissioner to attend a political conference that doesn’t have to do with public housing. Expenses paid for another…

PITTSBURGH – A Westmoreland County resident has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on charges of bank fraud and mail fraud, Acting United States Attorney Soo C. Song announced today. The five-count indictment, returned on June 27, named Nicolette Gizzi, age 44, of North Huntingdon, PA as the sole defendant. According to the indictment, from December 2009 through approximately June 2016, Gizzi, who was employed as the Financial…

BOSTON – A Taunton woman pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston today to concealing information and making false statements in order to receive Social Security disability benefits and Section 8 housing assistance to which she was not entitled.   Marisha Ebanks, 40, pleaded guilty to one count of Supplemental Security Income fraud and one count of making false statements. U.S. District Court Judge Allison D. Burroughs scheduled…

CHICAGO — A Chicago businessman has been arraigned on federal fraud charges for his alleged role in a scheme to bilk elderly homeowners out of millions of dollars. MARK STEVEN DIAMOND, a mortgage loan originator with offices in Chicago and Calumet City, engaged in a home repair and loan fraud scheme that targeted elderly homeowners and lenders, according to the indictment. Diamond fraudulently caused lenders to make reverse-mortgage loans to…

(Source: beverlyreview.net) One of four men found guilty of illegally taking over several vacant homes in Beverly/Morgan Park two years ago, a practice commonly known as squatting, has been sentenced to 14 years in prison. David Farr, also known as Fahim Ali, was admitted into the Northern Reception and Classification Center in Joliet on May 24, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC). His projected parole date and discharge…

SANTA ANA, California – An Orange County man pleaded guilty this morning to federal charges relating to his operation of a fraud scheme that took $2.2 million from distressed homeowners through false promises that he could help them avoid foreclosure by obtaining modifications to their mortgages. Kevin Frank Rasher, 45, who has been in custody since his arrest at his Coto de Caza residence one year ago, pleaded guilty to 12 counts of mail fraud…

(Source: chicagotribune.com) A man previously described as the ring leader of a criminal enterprise that illegally took possession of several homes in the Chicago area has been sentenced to 14 years in prison, according to the Cook County state's attorney's office. David Farr was sentenced Monday by Cook County Circuit Court Judge Alfredo Maldonado. He had been convicted last Sept. 30 of felonies, including theft of over $1 million and…

Source: www.housingwire.com)  During the confirmation process for Department of the Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Congressional Democrats attempted to use the mortgage practices that took place at OneWest Bank during Mnuchin’s time as chairman against him, claiming that Mnuchin oversaw a “foreclosure machine” during his time at OneWest. One of the Democrats’ weapons of choice was the alleged practices of Financial Freedom, a…

(Source: Ocean City Patch) OCEAN CITY, NJ — Alesia Watson has been removed as the Executive Director of the Ocean City Housing Authority (OCHA). Watson, who pleaded guilty last week to embezzling between $6,500 and $15,000 in funds intended for use by OCHA from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), was removed during OCHA’s meeting Tuesday night, according to published reports. Ocean City has also terminated its shared…

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…

CAMDEN, N.J. – The executive director of the Ocean City, New Jersey, Housing Authority (OCHA) today admitted embezzling federal funds received by authority from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick announced. Alesia Watson, 54, of Galloway Township, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen M. Williams in Camden federal court to an information charging her…

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…

BOSTON – A Milford woman was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston in connection with embezzling over $70,000 in rent payments owed to the Framingham Housing Authority (FHA). Rosa A. Famania, 33, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Chief Judge Patti B. Saris to five months in prison and three years of supervised release. In addition, Famania must complete five months in a residential or inpatient substance abuse facility upon her…

(Source: The Times) HAMMOND — A contractor hired in 2013 to improve Gary Housing Authority properties was indicted last week on charges alleging he provided counterfeit financial documents to secure the $347,950 contract. Ashley D. Dunlap, 54, of East Chicago, faces two counts of counterfeiting securities of a private entity, according to U.S. District Court records. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in July 2013 approved…

HAMMOND- Acting United States Attorney Clifford D. Johnson announced an indictment charging Ashley D. Dunlap, 54, of East Chicago, Indiana with two counts of uttering a counterfeit security. The indictment alleges, in July 2013, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development approved federal funding for building renovations at the Delaney and Dorie Miller public housing projects operated by Gary Housing Authority (GHA). Dunlap’s…

SCRANTON - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that Ignacio Beato, age 46, of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, was charged in a one count criminal information on April 26, 2017, with conspiracy to engage in monetary transactions through a financial institution, with funds that were the proceeds of wire fraud. According to United States Attorney Bruce D. Brandler, the information alleges that Beato…

(Source: kjas.com) Federal authorities have announced that they have just completed an investigation of The Jasper Housing Authority and its executive director, John Molt, and the feds say they have discovered a pattern of abuse of capacity, misused equipment, and over $91,000.00 in misused funds, and they say they’re demanding that it all be paid back.   In a report released by the Office of the Inspector General of the United States…

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…