Universal American Mortgage Company LLC (UAMC) has agreed to pay the United States $13.2 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by falsely certifying that it complied with Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage insurance requirements in connection with certain loans, the Department of Justice announced today.  UAMC is a mortgage lender headquartered in Miami, Florida. “Mortgage lenders may not ignore…

(Source: Dallasnews.com)  An obscure city housing agency has been awarding thousands of dollars of contracts — and in one case a bonus — to members of its board, a Dallas Morning News investigation has found. The Dallas City Council may take steps to rein in such inside deals at its meeting Wednesday. The agency — the Dallas Housing Finance Corporation — is one of the city’s tools to address the lack of affordable housing for people with…

BOSTON – Three Massachusetts men were charged today in federal court in Boston in connection with a 10-year mortgage fraud scheme involving at least two dozen fraudulent loan transactions and $4.3 million in losses to lenders. George Kritopoulos, 46, of Salem, a real estate developer, was arrested today and charged with one count of conspiracy, two counts of wire fraud, six counts of bank fraud, one count of aiding the preparation of a false…

TRENTON – Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal today announced that the Attorney General’s Office and its state and federal partners have charged four new defendants with filing fraudulent applications for federal relief funds related to Superstorm Sandy, bringing the total number of defendants charged by the office in these cases to 120 since March 2014. “Any fraud against public assistance programs is deplorable, but these thefts were especially…

The former head of the City of Cleveland’s demolition department was charged in federal court with soliciting and accepting bribes from contractors in exchange for preferential treatment. Rufus Taylor, 60, was charged in a criminal information with one count of bribery in a federally funded program and one count of extortion. According to the criminal information filed in U.S. District Court: Taylor was employed by the City of Cleveland as…

The owner of a former real estate escrow firm was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 24 months in prison for bank fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes. LORI LYNN ANDREW, 49, of Cashmere, Washington, the owner of Hartman Escrow, Inc., pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud.  ANDREW stole more than $2.1 million through a variety of techniques, including making false entries in escrow closing documents,…

BOSTON – A Methuen real estate broker was sentenced today in connection with a sweeping conspiracy to defraud banks and mortgage companies by engaging in sham “short” sales of residential properties in Merrimack Valley. Greisy Jimenez, 50, was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Court Judge Mark L. Wolf to three years in prison, four years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a fine of $12,500. The court will determine issues of restitution…

Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato today announced the arrest of Robert William Brower, Jr., 45, of Seaside Heights, NJ, after an eighteen month joint investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Economic Crimes Unit, the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development and the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General Division of Criminal Justice Financial and Computer Crimes Bureau.  As a result of this collaborative effort,…

Earlier today, Nagwa Elsilimy pleaded guilty at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn to disaster relief fraud in connection with obtaining more than $750,000 in disaster relief from New York City’s Build It Back program and the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.  Today’s proceeding took place before United States District Judge Raymond J. Dearie. Richard P. Donoghue, United States Attorney for the…

TRENTON – Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal announced that a man who worked at a state-operated housing recovery center in Newark after Superstorm Sandy has been indicted on charges that he demanded thousands of dollars in bribes and fictitious fees from storm victims, fraudulently representing to the victims that he could expedite and/or increase the federal relief funds they received. The Division of Criminal Justice Financial & Computer…

(Source: orangecountyda.org) Case # 17CF2429 Date: July 17, 2018 MAN SENTENCED TO EIGHT YEARS IN PRISON FOR UNLAWFUL LOAN MODIFICATION AND MONEY LAUNDERING AFTER DEFRAUDING NEARLY $2.3 MILLION FROM 387 HOMEOWNERS SANTA ANA, Calif. – A man was convicted and sentenced on Friday to eight years in state prison for operating an unlawful loan modification and money laundering scam that defrauded nearly $2.3 million from 387 homeowners.  …

TRENTON – Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal today announced that the Attorney General’s Office and its state and federal partners have charged four new defendants with filing fraudulent applications for federal relief funds related to Superstorm Sandy, bringing the total number of defendants charged by the office in these cases to 116 since March 2014. “Any fraud against public assistance programs is deplorable, but these thefts were especially…

BOSTON – A real estate attorney was sentenced today in connection with a sweeping conspiracy to defraud banks and mortgage companies by engaging in sham “short” sales of residential properties in Merrimack Valley. Jasmin Polanco, 37, of Methuen, was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock to 15 months in prison, three year of supervised release and ordered to pay $1,224,489 in restitution. In March 2018, Polanco…

LOS ANGELES – A federal jury in Los Angeles convicted a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer for abusing a program that provided discounted homes to law enforcement officers and misleading an investigator during a background investigation for security clearance. Kanit Kunnaragthai, 49, of Palmdale, was found guilty Thursday afternoon following a three-day trial in United States District Court. The jury found Kunnaragthai guilty of…

John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that STEVEN F. HARVIN, 53, of New Haven, was arrested today on a criminal complaint charging him with wire fraud and theft from programs receiving federal funds. After his arrest, HARVIN appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah A. L. Merriam in New Haven and was released on a $50,000 bond. According to the complaint, the Housing Opportunities for Persons with…

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A former executive of a Springfield, Missouri charity, who was also an Arkansas lobbyist, pleaded guilty in federal court today to bribing Arkansas elected officials in a multi-million-dollar scheme, and then along with other charity executives, embezzling millions of dollars from the Springfield health care organization. Acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S.…

BOSTON – A mortgage loan officer was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston in connection with a sweeping conspiracy to defraud banks and mortgage companies by engaging in sham “short” sales of residential properties in Merrimack Valley. Vanessa Ricci, 41, of Methuen, a mortgage loan officer, was sentenced to six months in prison, three years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution of $963,730. In March 2018, Ricci pleaded…

NEWARK, N.J. – A Jackson, New Jersey, man was sentenced today to 18 months in prison for his role in a large-scale mortgage fraud scheme that used phony documents and straw buyers to acquire more than $6 million in loans, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced. Joseph DiValli previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton to a superseding information charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, one…

United States Attorney John H. Durham and Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen today announced that COMMUNITY RENEWAL TEAM and its president, LENA RODRIGUEZ, have entered into a civil settlement agreement with the United States and the State of Connecticut and have paid $362,000 to resolve allegations that they violated the federal and state False Claims Acts. Community Renewal Team (“CRT”) is a Hartford-based community action agency that…

(Source:News 12 New Jersey) TRENTON, N.J. -  Three more New Jersey residents have been charged with filing fraudulent applications for Superstorm Sandy relief. The new cases were announced Friday by the state Attorney General's Office. Officials say that Fair Lawn resident Diane DiCosmo falsely claimed a home in Lavallette as a primary residence. She fraudulently collected $177,000, according to the attorney general. Matawan couple Barry…