Our review disclosed that the Family Living project has suffered serious financial problems, including a default on the HUD-insured mortgage, and had ceased being a profitable entity. These problems were caused by questionable cash distributions (withdrawals) from the project bank accounts by the Owner. We consider these distributions, totaling $455,439, to be "equity skimming" and to be in violation of applicable Federal statutes and HUD…

We completed an audit of the Philadelphia Regional Alliance of HUD Tenants $310,000 Outreach and Training Assistance Grant and a $20,000 Public Entity Grant (a Section 514 grant received from an Intermediary Technical Assistance Grant). The objectives of the review were to determine if the Philadelphia Regional Alliance of HUD Tenants used Section 514 grant funds for only eligible activities as identified in the Multifamily Assisted Housing…

We performed a nationwide audit of the Asset Control Area Program to assess the effectiveness of the Program in meeting its objective of expanded homeownership opportunities in revitalization areas. The audit included reviews at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Single Family Housing in Headquarters, and HUD's Philadelphia and Santa Ana Homeownership Centers (HOC. Also, it included an onsite review of three Local…

Leonard C Boyle, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that ALICIA GARDNER, 51, of Griswold, waived her right to be indicted and pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden in Bridgeport to embezzling money from federally subsidized housing complexes that she had managed. According to court documents and statements made in court, Gardner was employed by Garden Homes Management Corporation…

Defendants Allegedly Engaged in a Scheme to Purchase Real Estate at Fraudulently Depressed Short Sale Prices Resulting in Millions of Dollars in False Claims Submitted to HUD’s FHA Mortgage Insurance Program The United States has filed a civil complaint in federal court in Brooklyn seeking damages and penalties against three individuals and multiple companies alleged to have engaged in a wide-ranging mortgage fraud scheme to defraud the…

WASHINGTON – Guild Mortgage Company has agreed to pay the United States $24.9 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act and the common law by knowingly breaching material program requirements when it originated and underwrote mortgages insured by the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Federal Housing Administration (FHA), the Department of Justice announced today.  Guild Mortgage Company is…

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Guaranteed Rate, Inc. has agreed to pay the United States $15.06 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act and the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA) by knowingly violating material program requirements when it originated and underwrote mortgages insured by the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Federal Housing Administration (FHA) or…

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A former government official agreed to pay $25,000 to resolve allegations that he had an improper conflict of interest with a company while he served as the Director of the Quality Assurance Division in the Office of Lender Activities and Program Compliance within the Federal Housing Administration at the United States Office of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The United States alleges that Justin Burch, of Arlington, had…

NEWARK, N.J. – A Hudson County, New Jersey, woman was arrested today for allegedly embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from a non-profit corporation dedicated to providing affordable housing to residents of Englewood, New Jersey, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced. Yezenia Castillo, 44, of Hoboken, New Jersey, is charged by complaint with four counts of wire fraud. She is scheduled to appear this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate…

Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that JACQUELINE GRAHAM was sentenced today to 132 months in prison in connection with a $38 million fraudulent mortgage debt elimination scheme.  GRAHAM previously was convicted in June 2019 after a two-week trial before U.S. District Judge Nelson S. Román, who also imposed today’s sentence. Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said:…

BOSTON – The principal and co-founder of a North Andover mortgage short sale assistance company was sentenced yesterday in connection with defrauding mortgage lenders and investors out of nearly $500,000 in proceeds from about 90 short sale transactions. Jaime L. Mulvihill, 40, was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Court Judge Rya W. Zobel to six months in prison, two years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of…

This week, a Toledo federal jury convicted Arvel Ray Henderson, II, age 50, on one count of theft of public money, one count of concealment of bankruptcy assets, and one count of bankruptcy fraud.  Henderson is scheduled to be sentenced on December 20, 2019. Henderson, who was enrolled as a Section 8 landlord with the Lucas County Metropolitan Housing Authority (LMHA), leased several Section 8-eligible properties in the Toledo area, one of…

John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that ALLAN MANN, JR., also known as “Hailee Randolph DeSouza” and “Hailey R. DeSouza,” 67, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall in New Haven to 18 months of imprisonment for receiving federal benefits while living in the U.S. under an assumed name for approximately 30 years. As alleged in court documents, Allan Mann, who is a Canadian citizen,…

United States Attorney Erica H. MacDonald today announced a felony information charging CLARISSA LYNN COMBS, 48, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and false statements. COMBS will make her initial appearance in U.S. District Court at a later date. BRIDGIT YVETTE MICHAUD, 54, JALONDA LEEANN COMBS, 37, and AUDREY SEBILETTA HEATH, 34 were also charged via felony information with one count each of conspiracy to commit wire fraud for their roles…

BOSTON – The principals and co-founders of a North Andover mortgage short sale assistance company were charged today in connection with defrauding mortgage lenders and investors out of nearly $500,000 in proceeds from about 90 short sale transactions. The defendants allegedly defrauded the Federal National Mortgage Association, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Gabriel T.…

United States Attorney, Richard W. Moore, of the Southern District of Alabama announces that Tonya Lewis, a 39 year old resident of Selma, Alabama was charged in a two Count Indictment with Theft of Government Funds (Count One) and Aggravated Identity Theft (Count Two).  The Indictment alleges that Lewis stole approximately $95,689.44 from HUD that was entrusted to the Selma Housing Authority and that she stole the identity of another…

Real Estate Professionals Allegedly Conspired to Purchase Real Estate at Fraudulently Depressed Short Sale Prices, Costing Mortgage Loan Holders Millions of Dollars An indictment was unsealed today in federal court in Brooklyn charging Iskyo Aronov, Michael Konstantinovskiy, Tomer Dafna, Avraham Tarshish and Michael Herskowitz with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, and related wire fraud counts, in connection with a scheme to…

John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that ALLAN MANN, JR., also known as “Hailee Randolph DeSouza” and Hailey R. DeSouza,” 66, pleaded guilty today in New Haven federal court to a false statement offense related to his living in the U.S. under an assumed name for approximately 30 years. As alleged in court documents, Allan Mann abducted his 21-month-old son, Jermaine Allan Mann, on June 24, 1987,…

TRENTON, N.J. – A Passaic County, New Jersey, man and a Bergen County, New Jersey, man have been arraigned for their respective roles in a reverse mortgage scheme that took advantage of several elderly homeowners, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced today. Rafael Peralta, 46, of Clifton, New Jersey, and Philip Puccio Jr., 40, of Mahwah, New Jersey, were indicted Feb. 8, 2019, by a federal grand jury on one count of conspiracy to commit bank…

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced today that Sierra Pacific Mortgage Company Inc. (SPM), a national mortgage lender headquartered in Folsom, has agreed to pay the United States $3,670,000 to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by falsely certifying compliance with Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage insurance requirements in connection with certain loans. During the time period…