Teresa Jean Whitten,
39, Liberty, Missouri, who operated a real estate business has been
indicted by a federal grand jury for her role in a $5 million mortgage
fraud scheme.
The defendant was charged in a 10-count indictment returned by a
federal grand jury in Kansas City, Missouri on Wednesday, November 28,
2012. Whitten appeared in federal court for her initial court appearance.
According to the federal indictment, Whitten was doing business under the name Leadership to Homeownership. Whitten
allegedly engaged in a mortgage fraud scheme from early to mid-2007
through February 23, 2009, in which mortgage lenders loaned borrowers
approximately $5,088,224. Whitten obtained in excess of $400,000 from the loan proceeds, the indictment says.
Whitten
solicited potential buyers by advertisements, flyers, a website, and
other means, the indictment says, claiming that she had a program
through which people could purchase houses without putting money down
and could qualify and obtain mortgage loans for which they would not
otherwise qualify. Whitten's
scheme relied on false and fraudulent loan applications and supporting
documents, the indictment says. The false and fraudulent representations
and omissions allegedly included borrowers' income, employment, assets,
liabilities, and intent to occupy the property as their primary
residence.
According to the indictment, the loan applications falsely claimed
the borrowers were making a down payment and were bringing money to
closing, when in fact the funds were supplied by Whitten.
As part of the scheme, Whitten allegedly gave cash to borrowers so they
could obtain cashier's checks from their banks to take to closings.
From the loan proceeds, after closing Whitten allegedly
received funds both for her fee and reimbursement for the funds she
advanced, none of which was disclosed to the lenders.
The federal indictment charges Whitten with
five counts of bank fraud, two counts of wire fraud, and one count of
money laundering in relation to the mortgage fraud scheme.
Whitten is also charged with one count of obstruction of justice. The indictment alleges that Whitten attempted
to impede the federal criminal investigation by destroying documents. A
grand jury subpoena required her to appear before a grand jury and to
bring certain documents with her, the indictment says. Whitten allegedly
gave boxes and bags of documents to two individuals and instructed them
to put the documents in a trash container at their apartment complex. Whitten allegedly
told these individuals that she was being investigated by the FBI for
mortgage fraud and that she had documents that would be of interest to
the investigation. She allegedly told them that she had added food
wrappers to the contents to make it look like trash, and told them to
set the documents outside in the rain to make sure they were ruined.
Whitten is also
charged with one count of theft of government property related to a
Social Security fraud scheme. According to the indictment, Whitten received
$78,964 in disability insurance benefits and auxiliary payments for her
children to which she was not entitled, as well as a $250 Recovery Act
payment, for a total of $79,214.
David M. Ketchmark, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced the indictment.
Ketchmark cautioned that the charges contained in this indictment are
simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the
charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to
determine guilt or innocence.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Linda Parker
Marshall. It was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation, HUD-Office
of Inspector General, the Social Security Administration-Office of
Inspector General and the FBI.
Sunday, December 30, 2012
3 People Sentenced for Submitting False Loan Applications
Brian Armet, 36, Santa Margarita, California, Rigoberto Hernandez, 37, Santa Maria, California, and Julio Tamayo, 42, Santa Maria, who participated in a complex mortgage fraud scheme operated out of Santa Maria, were sentenced to federal prison terms and ordered to pay $2.4 million in restitution to various lenders that suffered losses as a result of having funded loans procured through fraud.
Amet was sentenced to one year and one day in prison after pleading guilty in July 2011 to conspiring to defraud lenders by preparing loans packages that contained false information about prospective borrowers' employment and assets.
Hernandez was sentenced to eight months in prison, and Tamayo was sentenced to six months in prison. After being indicted one year ago, Hernandez and Tamayo pleaded guilty earlier in 2012 to mortgage fraud charges.
The three men were sentenced by United States District Judge John F. Walter, who ordered the defendants to pay $2,412,294 in restitution to four lending victims.
The fraudulent mortgage fraud scheme operated through Custom House Home Loans (CHHL), a Santa Maria real estate mortgage company that Armet started in early 2006. Armet was a licensed mortgage broker and the main loan officer at CHHL, where he prepared and submitted loan application packages. Hernandez and Tamayo worked at CHHL and helped prepare loans applications by obtaining information from clients.
In instances where the information was insufficient to ensure that a client would qualify for a loan, Armet, Tamayo and Hernandez arranged with employers in the Santa Maria area to verify that they employed the applicant. Armet included the false and fraudulent employment information in loan applications that were submitted to lenders, including Homecoming Financial, Freddie Mac, Bank of America and Carrington Mortgage Company. Lenders relied on these fraudulent loan applications that contained false information to fund loans. As a result of this fraud, approximately 19 loans went into default, causing lenders to suffer approximately $2.4 million in losses.
The case against Armet, Tamayo and Hernandez is the result of an investigation by the Santa Maria office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
David Kaup sought by the FBI
David Kaup, 29, San Gabriel, California, who was scheduled to be sentenced on December 17, 2012, but failed to appear in court, is being sought by the FBI.
The defendant was scheduled to be sentenced in United States District Court in Los Angeles. Kaup pled guilty to two counts of wire fraud on April 9, 2012.
According to his plea agreement, Kaup carried out three separate fraud schemes, each of which caused millions in losses to victims. Kaup admitted in his plea agreement that over a period of approximately five years, he defrauded more than 50 families out of more than $11 million. Many of these victims were working class families who sought Kaup's assistance in refinancing their homes.
Kaup admitted in his plea that he had operated several companies, including Lunden Investments, American Loans and Funding (ALF), and First Mortgage West, each of which was based in Los Angeles. Through Lunden Investments, Kaup convinced investors to give him more than $9 million, which he said he was going to use for commercial loans. Kaup admitted in his plea, however, that he instead lost approximately $9 million of the victims' money trading on the Foreign Currency Exchange Market.
After defrauding these victims, Kaup started a separate scheme to deceive homeowners into sending him money. In his plea, Kaup admitted that through his second company, ALF, he told homeowners that he could refinance their homes at below-market rates, so long as they provided certain funds up front to demonstrate that they financially qualified for the special loan terms. These funds were supposed to be kept safe during the loan process and then returned when the loan was either approved or denied.
Kaup admitted that he never tried to refinance the homeowners' loans and instead used the victims' money to buy luxury items for himself and to trade on the Foreign Currency Exchange Market. After this scheme collapsed, Kaup admitted in his plea that he ran the same scheme, along with others, through a third company, FMW. In all, through ALF and FMW, Kaup admits that he defrauded more than 50 families out of approximately $2 million.
In carrying out these schemes, Kaup used several aliases, including "David Smith" and "David Martinez."
Kaup is described as follows:
Date of birth: January 26, 1983
Hair: Black
Eyes: Brown
Height: 5'11" tall
Weight: 190
Last known city of residence: San Gabriel, California
Kaup has been known to work as a disc jockey in the Los Angeles and Las Vegas areas and has used the moniker "New Age Dave."
Anyone with information as to the whereabouts of Kaup is urged to call the FBI at 1-888-CANT-HIDE (1-888-226-8443).
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Ioan (John) S. Pop si atacurile sale mizerabile impotriva crestinilor evenghelici si a romanilor din diaspora
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Un astfel de caz este cel de acum cateva luni cand, din senin, vazand ca nu mai primeste banii ceruti s-a apucat sa improaste cu "noroi", publicand minciuni sfruntate pe o pagina de internet a unui site din Bihor.
Asa numitul "reverend" Ioan S. Pop il face in fel si chip pe omul de afaceri romano-american Florian Peretz din Michigan. In ciuda faptului ca nu avea nici un fel de probe impotriva celui acuzat "reverendul" nostru minte cu nesimtire ca un birjar la drumul mare, calomniind si facandu-l pe romanul-american: mafiot, protector de pedofili, traficant de carne vie si alte titluri jignitoare.
„Mafiotul penticostal Florian Peretz din Detroit - ereticul întemeietor de biserici hibrid, nişte struţo-cămile pentico-ortodoxe, s-a opus şi se opune cu vehemenţă însuşirii Deciziei definitive a Cultului Penticostal Church of God International de caterisire, pe viaţă, şi excomunicarea fostului pastor, pedofilul şi prea-curvarul episcop penticostal Ioan J. Buia din Detroit (...) În plus, milionarul penticostal mafiot este culpabil în faţa tribunalelor americane pentru tăinuirea celor 12 violuri şi acte de pedofilie ale prietenului său, acte ce trebuia raportate de'ndată procuraturii şi poliţiei americane ce investigheaza aceste grave infracţiuni contra vieţii individuale şi moralei publice...." declara Ioan Pop.
O alta persoana pe care o ataca in mod frecvent este un alt om de afaceri, din Chicago, Ionel Capalnas, pe care il spurca in fel si chip de cate ori are ocazia.
Aberatii si minciuni similare au fost publicate si la un ziar din Bistrita, in urma cu cateva luni, in care exagera si denatura adevarul cu privire la un conflict izbucnit intr-o biserica romaneasca din Arizona. Pretinzand in mod fals ca este inca pastor penticostal si dand impresia ca este observator religios si ca ar lucra pentru Departamentul de Stat American, acest impostor abuzeaza de aceste titluri oficiale, trimitand mesaje la diferite ziare locale din tara, sau incercand sa santajeze pe unul si pe altul in schimbul unor ajutoare financiare.
Un atac recent l-a avut si impotriva unor lideri religiosi, despre care a postat un mesaj pe un site al comunei Floresti, de langa Cluj Napoca.
“Se stie ca, inca de acum 4 ani, bulibasa penticostalilor, super-coruptul si securistul Pavel Rivis-Tipei, “Lutu” pentru apropiati, i-a pus gand rau conducerii Seminarului Penticostal I.T.P. din Bucuresti, presedintele CEPEX-ului comunist al cultului penticostal hotarind sa se razbune, fiind ranit grav in amorul si interesul propriu pentru pierderea suferita de fieful penticostalilor aradeni prin retragerea recunoasterii si acreditarii academice, universitare, a fostei Facultatii de Teologie Pastorala BETANIA Arad – o incropeala de scoala unde un grup de semi-docti pretindeau ca sunt “cadre didactice universitare”, printre ei numarindu-se si cativa membri ai familiei bulibasei Rivis-Tipei."
Alte atacuri similare au fost lansate de-a lungul timpului si impotriva deputatului Mircea Lubanovici, dar si a candidatului la functia de senator din partea PP-DD-ului, domnul Doru Ilioi. Dupa ce a primit in trecut mii de dolari din partea acestuia din urma, John S. Pop a trecut la atacuri virulente.
De-a lungul anilor acest individ, Ioan S. Pop, cu o minte depresiva si bolnava , fara scrupule sau bun simt, ce practica metode securiste de manipulare si intoxicare a oamenilor, a atacat numerosi lideri religiosi, lideri comunitari, romani plecati in diaspora, ziaristi, oameni de afaceri, etc. in special din America . Dupa ce le cere ajutor, cand vede ca nu mai este bagat in seama sau nu mai ii da nimeni bani, trece la atacuri calomnioase, promovand dezinformarea si minciuna prin emailuri trimise la gramada, la zeci de romani, pe adrese de email atent selectionate si culese de pe internet.
Mai multi romani satui de aceste atacuri mizerabile vor contacta autoritatile si justitia americana dar si cea romaneasca, pentru a sesiza abuzurile facute si folosirea, de catre acest individ, unor titluri oficiale in mod fraudulos.
Monday, December 10, 2012
Six Romanian nationals charged with money laundering and fraud
A criminal complaint unsealed last week in U.S. District Court in the
Eastern District of New York charges Romanian nationals Emil Butoi, 34,
Aurel Cojorcaru, 43, Nicolae Ghebosila, 43, Cristea Mircea, 30, Ion
Pieptea, 36, and Nicolae Simion, 37, and Albanian national Fabian Meme,
42, each with one count of wire fraud conspiracy and one count of money
laundering conspiracy. Butoi, Cojocaru, Meme, Mircea, Pieptea and
Simion are also each charged with one count of passport fraud
conspiracy.
Butoi, Cojorcaru, Ghebosila, Mircea, Pieptea and Simion were arrested today. Meme is already incarcerated in the Czech Republic.
The government will seek the defendants’ extradition to the United States pursuant to the relevant international treaties.
As alleged in the complaint, the defendants were responsible for saturating Internet marketplace websites including eBay, Cars.com, AutoTrader.com and CycleTrader.com with detailed advertisements for cars, motorcycles, boats and other high-value items generally priced in the $10,000 to $45,000 range. Unbeknownst to the buyers, however, the merchandise did not exist. The defendants allegedly employed co-conspirators who corresponded with victim buyers by email, sending fraudulent certificates of title and other information designed to lure the victims into parting with their money. Sometimes, the defendants allegedly pretended to sell cars from nonexistent auto dealerships in the United States and even created phony websites for these fictitious dealerships. In at least one transaction involving Ghebosila, the “seller” allegedly pretended to be the widow of an Iraq war veteran who was selling her family’s mobile home so that she could care for her children. In other transactions, the defendants allegedly duped victims into sending tens of thousands of dollars for non-existent vehicles, including Lexus, Audi, Ford, Chevrolet, Dodge, Toyota, Mercedes, Porsche and BMW cars; Big Dog Mastiff and Ninja motorcycles; a Fleetwood Storm motor home; and boats.
As part of the scheme, Cojocaru, Meme, Butoi and others produced high-quality fake passports so that foreign national co-conspirators in the United States, known as “arrows,” could use the passports as identification to open American bank accounts. The complaint alleges that Cojocaru was recorded on video during the investigation displaying new holograms that he was using to create more authentic-looking passports.
According to the complaint, after the “sellers” reached an agreement with the victim buyers, they would often email them invoices purporting to be from Amazon Payments, PayPal or other online payment services, with wire transfer instructions. However, the defendants and their co-conspirators allegedly used counterfeit service marks in designing the invoices so that they would appear identical to communications from legitimate payment services. The fraudulent invoices directed the buyers to send money to the American bank accounts that had been opened by the “arrows.” Finally, the arrows would allegedly collect the illicit proceeds and send them to the defendants in Europe by wire transfer and other methods. For example, the arrows allegedly forwarded Pieptea $18,000 cash in fraud proceeds hidden inside hollowed-out audio speakers. Other arrows allegedly used the proceeds to purchase expensive Audemars Piguet watches, and then sent the watches to the defendants abroad.
According to the complaint, it is estimated that the defendants earned over $3 million from the fraudulent scheme.
If convicted, the defendants each face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison on the wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy counts, and 10 years in prison on the passport fraud conspiracy count.
The charges in the complaint are merely allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The government’s case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Cristina Posa, Vamshi Reddy and Claire Kedeshian of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, and Trial Attorney Carol Sipperly of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section.
The offices of the FBI Legal Attachés in Romania, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, Canada and Hungary were instrumental in coordinating efforts with the United States’ international partners, and the Justice Department Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs worked with its counterparts in these countries to effect the provisional arrests and requests for mutual legal assistance, including the forfeiture of illegal proceeds of these crimes. The Department of Justice’s Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section also provided assistance in the forfeitures.
The U.S. government thanks the Romanian government, in particular the Ministry of Justice, the Directorate for Combating Organized Crime and the Romanian Intelligence Service, for their collaborative efforts throughout this long-term investigation, as well as the Czech National Police, Hungarian National Bureau of Investigation, Metropolitan Police Service in England, Montreal Police Service, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, International Organized Crime Intelligence and Operations Center, Internet Crime Complaint Center, Costa Mesa, Calif., Police Department, Orange County, Calif., District Attorney’s Office and the New York City Police Department for their assistance.
Butoi, Cojorcaru, Ghebosila, Mircea, Pieptea and Simion were arrested today. Meme is already incarcerated in the Czech Republic.
The government will seek the defendants’ extradition to the United States pursuant to the relevant international treaties.
As alleged in the complaint, the defendants were responsible for saturating Internet marketplace websites including eBay, Cars.com, AutoTrader.com and CycleTrader.com with detailed advertisements for cars, motorcycles, boats and other high-value items generally priced in the $10,000 to $45,000 range. Unbeknownst to the buyers, however, the merchandise did not exist. The defendants allegedly employed co-conspirators who corresponded with victim buyers by email, sending fraudulent certificates of title and other information designed to lure the victims into parting with their money. Sometimes, the defendants allegedly pretended to sell cars from nonexistent auto dealerships in the United States and even created phony websites for these fictitious dealerships. In at least one transaction involving Ghebosila, the “seller” allegedly pretended to be the widow of an Iraq war veteran who was selling her family’s mobile home so that she could care for her children. In other transactions, the defendants allegedly duped victims into sending tens of thousands of dollars for non-existent vehicles, including Lexus, Audi, Ford, Chevrolet, Dodge, Toyota, Mercedes, Porsche and BMW cars; Big Dog Mastiff and Ninja motorcycles; a Fleetwood Storm motor home; and boats.
As part of the scheme, Cojocaru, Meme, Butoi and others produced high-quality fake passports so that foreign national co-conspirators in the United States, known as “arrows,” could use the passports as identification to open American bank accounts. The complaint alleges that Cojocaru was recorded on video during the investigation displaying new holograms that he was using to create more authentic-looking passports.
According to the complaint, after the “sellers” reached an agreement with the victim buyers, they would often email them invoices purporting to be from Amazon Payments, PayPal or other online payment services, with wire transfer instructions. However, the defendants and their co-conspirators allegedly used counterfeit service marks in designing the invoices so that they would appear identical to communications from legitimate payment services. The fraudulent invoices directed the buyers to send money to the American bank accounts that had been opened by the “arrows.” Finally, the arrows would allegedly collect the illicit proceeds and send them to the defendants in Europe by wire transfer and other methods. For example, the arrows allegedly forwarded Pieptea $18,000 cash in fraud proceeds hidden inside hollowed-out audio speakers. Other arrows allegedly used the proceeds to purchase expensive Audemars Piguet watches, and then sent the watches to the defendants abroad.
According to the complaint, it is estimated that the defendants earned over $3 million from the fraudulent scheme.
If convicted, the defendants each face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison on the wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy counts, and 10 years in prison on the passport fraud conspiracy count.
The charges in the complaint are merely allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The government’s case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Cristina Posa, Vamshi Reddy and Claire Kedeshian of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, and Trial Attorney Carol Sipperly of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section.
The offices of the FBI Legal Attachés in Romania, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, Canada and Hungary were instrumental in coordinating efforts with the United States’ international partners, and the Justice Department Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs worked with its counterparts in these countries to effect the provisional arrests and requests for mutual legal assistance, including the forfeiture of illegal proceeds of these crimes. The Department of Justice’s Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section also provided assistance in the forfeitures.
The U.S. government thanks the Romanian government, in particular the Ministry of Justice, the Directorate for Combating Organized Crime and the Romanian Intelligence Service, for their collaborative efforts throughout this long-term investigation, as well as the Czech National Police, Hungarian National Bureau of Investigation, Metropolitan Police Service in England, Montreal Police Service, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, International Organized Crime Intelligence and Operations Center, Internet Crime Complaint Center, Costa Mesa, Calif., Police Department, Orange County, Calif., District Attorney’s Office and the New York City Police Department for their assistance.
A Romanian man and a Russian woman have pleaded guilty to participating in an Internet scam
A Romanian man and a Russian woman have pleaded guilty to
participating in an Internet scam that offered non-existent automobiles
for sale and caused victims from across the United States to suffer
losses of more than $4 million.
Corneliu Weikum, 38, a Romanian national who resides in the Federal Republic of Germany, and Yulia Mishina-Heffron, 24, of Russia, each pleaded guilty yesterday afternoon to two counts – one involving smuggling bulk cash out of the United States, and another involving a plot to commit wire and bank fraud.
Weikum and Mishina-Heffron pleaded guilty pursuant to cases brought by the United States Attorney’s Offices in Los Angeles (which included the conspiracy count) and Las Vegas (which included the bulk cash smuggling count).
According to court documents, between May 2007 and November 15, 2010, Weikum and Mishina-Heffron participated in a scheme operated out of Romania that advertised cars and other vehicles for sale on websites that included eBay Motors, Auto Trader, Yahoo Auto, edmunds.com, and Cragslist. After negotiating with members of the conspiracy in Romania, victims of the scam were instructed to deposit the money for the cars into bank accounts established at the direction of Weikum and Mishina-Heffron. Associates withdrew the money and gave it to Weikum and Mishina-Heffron, who would then smuggle the money out of the United States in the form of cash and wire transfers.
On October 22, 2009, more than $1 million was seized from Weikum’s luggage at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas. On March 10, 2010, law enforcement seized $20,000 stuffed into stereo speakers that Mishina-Heffron had attempted to ship to Germany.
The charges to which the defendants pleaded guilty carry a maximum statutory sentence of 35 years imprisonment. However, the defendants have entered into binding plea agreements that call upon the court to sentence Weikum to 97 months in federal prison and Mishina-Heffron to 70 months imprisonment. As part of their plea agreements, the defendants forfeited over $1.2 million in cash and agreed to pay restitution to the victims of the crimes.
Corneliu Weikum, 38, a Romanian national who resides in the Federal Republic of Germany, and Yulia Mishina-Heffron, 24, of Russia, each pleaded guilty yesterday afternoon to two counts – one involving smuggling bulk cash out of the United States, and another involving a plot to commit wire and bank fraud.
Weikum and Mishina-Heffron pleaded guilty pursuant to cases brought by the United States Attorney’s Offices in Los Angeles (which included the conspiracy count) and Las Vegas (which included the bulk cash smuggling count).
According to court documents, between May 2007 and November 15, 2010, Weikum and Mishina-Heffron participated in a scheme operated out of Romania that advertised cars and other vehicles for sale on websites that included eBay Motors, Auto Trader, Yahoo Auto, edmunds.com, and Cragslist. After negotiating with members of the conspiracy in Romania, victims of the scam were instructed to deposit the money for the cars into bank accounts established at the direction of Weikum and Mishina-Heffron. Associates withdrew the money and gave it to Weikum and Mishina-Heffron, who would then smuggle the money out of the United States in the form of cash and wire transfers.
On October 22, 2009, more than $1 million was seized from Weikum’s luggage at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas. On March 10, 2010, law enforcement seized $20,000 stuffed into stereo speakers that Mishina-Heffron had attempted to ship to Germany.
The charges to which the defendants pleaded guilty carry a maximum statutory sentence of 35 years imprisonment. However, the defendants have entered into binding plea agreements that call upon the court to sentence Weikum to 97 months in federal prison and Mishina-Heffron to 70 months imprisonment. As part of their plea agreements, the defendants forfeited over $1.2 million in cash and agreed to pay restitution to the victims of the crimes.
Florida man sent to prison for a foreclosure rescue scheme
Barrington Coombs,
58, Weston, Florida, was sentenced to serve a year and a day in prison
for his role in a foreclosure rescue scheme that victimized desperate
homeowners on the brink of losing their homes. Coombs was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Kenneth A. Marra in the Southern District of Florida.
Coombs was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and one count of wire fraud, following a two-week jury trial in July 2012.
According to the indictment and evidence presented at trial, two of Coombs' accomplices, Lisa Wright and Cathy Saffer, operated Foreclosure Solution Specialists (FSS) from 2006 to 2009. FSS targeted homeowners facing foreclosure, advertising that it could assist those homeowners in remaining in their homes. When contacted by distressed homeowners seeking assistance, FSS misrepresented to those homeowners that their homes would be sold to investors.
According to the indictment and evidence presented at trial, FSS also claimed that customers could remain in their homes after the sales and promised them an opportunity to repurchase the homes at a later date. Rather than selling the homes to legitimate investors, FSS designed sham sales to straw purchasers whom they paid to participate in the scheme.
According to the indictment and evidence presented at trial, FSS paid Certified Public Accountant Barrington Coombs to write a fraudulent letter that vouched for the false information on various loan applications. Lenders relied on Coombs' fraudulent letter in deciding to fund the loans.
Coombs is the last member of the scheme to be sentenced. In November 2012, the two individuals who operated FSS were sentenced. Lisa Wright was sentenced to a 66 month term of imprisonment, while Cathy Saffer received a sentence of 60 months.
Mortgage transactions completed by FSS drew equity out of the homes, which FSS' principals pocketed for their own purposes. After doing so, FSS allowed the loans to go into foreclosure. Homeowners ultimately lost all of the equity in their homes, and most of the victims were forced to move out of their homes.
Coombs was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and one count of wire fraud, following a two-week jury trial in July 2012.
According to the indictment and evidence presented at trial, two of Coombs' accomplices, Lisa Wright and Cathy Saffer, operated Foreclosure Solution Specialists (FSS) from 2006 to 2009. FSS targeted homeowners facing foreclosure, advertising that it could assist those homeowners in remaining in their homes. When contacted by distressed homeowners seeking assistance, FSS misrepresented to those homeowners that their homes would be sold to investors.
According to the indictment and evidence presented at trial, FSS also claimed that customers could remain in their homes after the sales and promised them an opportunity to repurchase the homes at a later date. Rather than selling the homes to legitimate investors, FSS designed sham sales to straw purchasers whom they paid to participate in the scheme.
According to the indictment and evidence presented at trial, FSS paid Certified Public Accountant Barrington Coombs to write a fraudulent letter that vouched for the false information on various loan applications. Lenders relied on Coombs' fraudulent letter in deciding to fund the loans.
Coombs is the last member of the scheme to be sentenced. In November 2012, the two individuals who operated FSS were sentenced. Lisa Wright was sentenced to a 66 month term of imprisonment, while Cathy Saffer received a sentence of 60 months.
Mortgage transactions completed by FSS drew equity out of the homes, which FSS' principals pocketed for their own purposes. After doing so, FSS allowed the loans to go into foreclosure. Homeowners ultimately lost all of the equity in their homes, and most of the victims were forced to move out of their homes.
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