(Source: USAO SC) United States Attorney Bill Nettles stated that Michael Yant, age 40, of Lexington, South Carolina, was sentenced today in federal court in Columbia, South Carolina, for Wire Fraud, a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343, in connection with a mortgage fraud scheme.  United States District Judge Joseph F. Anderson, Jr., of Columbia sentenced Yant to five months of incarceration, to be followed by five months home confinement.…

(Source: The State) A Lexington man was sentenced in federal court Monday for wire fraud. Lexington’s Michael Yant, 40, was sentenced to to five months in jail, followed by five months of home confinement, in U.S. District Court in Columbia, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Winston Holliday, adding Yant also was ordered to pay almost $270,000 in restitution. Yant committed mortgage fraud on 15 Federal Housing Administration loans, said Holliday,…

(Source: Ventura County Star) William Reed ran the city's emergency solutions grant program, which is part of the Oxnard Housing Department. The program helps homeless families and others get shelter and housing. Ventura County prosecutors said Reed abused his position of trust by misappropriating money that should have gone to the homeless. "He falsified documents so that checks could be issued to three unqualified individuals...

(Source: LA Times) Two executives at a Los Angeles-based real estate development company and two of their employees have been indicted on charges they defrauded government agencies of millions of dollars in funds for housing low-income families. The 67-page federal grand jury indictment says Salim Karimi and three others at Advanced Development and Investment Inc. engaged in a conspiracy to fraudulently obtain more than $50 million in loan…

FREEHOLD – The former executive director of the Asbury Park Housing Authority, who is also the ex-mayor of Lawrence Township, has been indicted on 38 counts of official misconduct and other charges, Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni announced Monday. An investigation conducted by the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office determined that while Mark W. Holmes, Sr. was serving as the executive director of the Asbury Park…

The former executive director of the Newark Watershed Conservation and Development Corp. (NWCDC) today admitted accepting approximately $999,000 in kickback payments in exchange for her assistance in awarding work to various vendors and contractors of the agency, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. Linda Watkins Brashear, 56, of West Orange, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge José Linares in Newark federal court to Counts 1 and 5 of…

(Source: nj.gov) TRENTON – Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman announced that eight 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 45 people for allegedly engaging in this type of fraud, including the eight individuals charged today. The Attorney General’s Office…

(Source: FBI.gov) NEWARK N.J.—An Elizabeth, New Jersey, man today admitted recruiting straw buyers and submitting bogus loan applications as part of large-scale mortgage fraud scheme involving properties in northern New Jersey, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. Miguel LaRosa, 48, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton in Newark federal court of an information charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit wire…

(Source: Justice.gov) Franklin American Mortgage Company has agreed to pay the United States $70 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.  Franklin American is…

(Source: nj.com) TRENTON — A Toms River man who received more than $218,000 in Hurricane Sandy relief aid has admitted to filing fraudulent applications for funding from government-run storm recovery programs, authorities said. Gregory Wagner, 63, pleaded guilty in state Superior Court on Monday to third-degree theft by deception, according to the New Jersey Attorney General's Office. Wagner claimed a storm-damaged rental property he owned in…

(Source: Realtytoday.com) Real estate attorney, Hyacinth Bellerose, pleaded guilty in participating in a wide-ranged scheme to defraud banks and mortgage companies. The scheme was done as part of a conspiracy involving sham "short" sales of numerous residential properties in the Merrimack Valley of Massachusetts. Bellerose was convicted with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud. According to the press release of the U.S. Attorney's…

(Source: CBS6 News) ALBANY -- Public housing is a program designed to help low-income families by giving them a roof over their head.  Last year, about 1.1 million families received public housing assistance.   However, people continue to use the system - even after their salaries skyrocket.   A blunt report released by the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development found more than 25,000…

(Source: CBS Boston) BOSTON (CBS) – Like thousands of other low-income residents in Boston, Angelina Depina, 26, knows how tough it is to find an affordable place to live. To qualify for subsidized public housing options, prospective tenants have to meet income restrictions. There is a lot of competition for a limited number of vacancies. In Boston, the waiting list has 38,000 applicants. This Dorchester working mom was surprised to learn…

Over lunch at the Sendera, the Victoria Housing Authority Board accepted the resignation of Executive Director Debbie Gillespie. Gillespie's resignation comes about a month after an inspector general found the housing authority mismanaged more than $780,000 between Jan. 1, 2013 to March 31, 2014. It also comes as law enforcement investigates Gillespie, former Chief Financial Officer Dolores Garza and other employees for theft. Gillespie was not…

For Immediate Release:                                                                                      (202) 402-4837 October 6, 2015                  …

GULFPORT, MI—Former Harrison County supervisor Kim Savant, 65, of Gulfport, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Sul Ozerden today to sixty months in federal prison followed by two years of supervised release for conspiracy to commit bribery, announced U.S. Attorney Gregory K. Davis, IRS—Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Jerome McDuffie and FBI Special Agent in Charge Donald Alway. Savant was also ordered to pay a $20,000 fine.…

(Source: Providence Journal Newspaper) PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Federal prosecutors say a former Providence City Council candidate has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud for obtaining a $157,000 federally insured mortgage loan fraudulently by using the identity of a dead person. Authorities say 34-year-old Franchesco Franco, of Providence, a former mortgage loan originator, made false statements on a mortgage loan application and…

Suit Alleges that Purported Charity Concealed Problem Lenders from Federal Housing Administration (Source: USAO, Eastern District of New York) Kelly T. Currie, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, David A. Montoya, Inspector General for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and Frederick W. Gibson, Acting Inspector General for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, announced the filing of a civil…

(Source: DOJ) WASHINGTON – The owner of a Florida mortgage company was sentenced today to serve 135 months in prison for orchestrating a $64 million mortgage fraud scheme. Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida and Special Agent in Charge Nadine Gurley of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD OIG)…

(Source: mortgagefraudblog.com) Christopher Nelson, 46, Henderson, Nevada, and Niket Kulkarni, 38, Los Angeles, California were indicted by the Clark County, Nevada, Grand Jury, along with Thomas J. Adams,  Robyn D. Reese, and James Sheridan Reese, in connection with a short sale rescue fraud scheme. The charges include racketeering, pattern of mortgage lending fraud, theft, theft from a person over the age of 60, and failure to place a…