Matthew A. Kim of Alexandria, Va., has pled guilty to engaging in mortgage fraud as a loan broker for two local mortgage companies. Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Shawn Henry, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office; and Daniel S. Cortez, Inspector in Charge of the Washington Division of the United States Postal Inspection Service, made the announcement after the plea was accepted by United States District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee.Read more

A former mortgage broker who helped orchestrate a massive mortgage fraud scheme that caused more than $40 million in losses has been sentenced to 78 months in federal prison. Mark Alan Abrams of downtown Los Angeles, was sentenced by United States District Judge Dean D. Pregerson. In addition to the prison term, Judge Pregerson ordered Abrams to pay more than $41 million in restitution to two federally-insured banks.Read more

The United States Attorney’s Office has announced that John R. Steffen was indicted on fraud charges involving his scheme to defraud The Business Bank of St. Louis by pledging Brownfield Remediation Tax Credits as collateral on a loan, and selling them to use the proceeds for other projects. According to the indictment, Steffen is in the business of construction of residential and commercial real estate as well as the rehabilitation and development of commercial real estate primarily in the St. Louis area.Read more

United States Attorney Bill Nettles announced that Kimberly O. McAbee of Woodruff, S.C., has been sentenced in federal court in Greenville, S.C., for embezzling bank funds, a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 656. Senior United States District Judge G. Ross Anderson Jr. sentenced McAbee to 24 months' imprisonment. Evidence presented at the change of plea hearing established that from 1988 until December 2009, McAbee worked at Arthur State Bank in Woodruff, S.C.Read more

Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, has announced that David Ramnauth, former president of GuyAmerican Funding Corporation, a mortgage brokerage firm in Queens, N.Y., has pled guilty to conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud. Ramnauth was charged in a Superseding Indictment along with eight other defendants for their participation in a scheme that defrauded banks out of more than $23 million in home mortgage loans.Read more

A federal grand jury has indicted Winnie Joanne Barefoot, a/k/a Winnie Jo Budzina, a/k/a Winnie JoAnne Conn, a/k/a Joanne Knopsnyder, a/k/a Olivia JoAnne Morgan, a/k/a Olivia JoAnne Barefoot Morgan of Annapolis, Md., for bank, wire and mail fraud; Social Security fraud; and making false statements to the Social Security Administration. The indictment was returned on July 30, 2010 and unsealed the next day upon Barefoot’s arrest.Read more

David B. Fein, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, has announced that a federal grand jury sitting in New Haven, Conn. has returned an 11-count indictment charging Steven J. Kottage and Genaro R. Hathaway, both of Weston, Conn., and Mary Ellen Durso of Milford, Conn. with conspiracy and other offenses stemming from the defendants alleged involvement in mortgage fraud.Read more

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; John V. Gillies, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office; Henry Gutierrez, Postal Inspector in Charge, U.S. Postal Inspection Service; J.Read more

Kenneth Steward from South Holland, Ill. was arrested on federal charges alleging that he and six co-defendants participated in a $35 million mortgage fraud scheme involving more than 120 residential properties located primarily on the city’s south side. Steward, who bought and sold homes and recruited others to act as residential purchasers, and his co-defendants allegedly caused various lenders and financial institutions to lose at least approximately $16 million on mortgage loans that were not repaid by the borrowers or fully recovered through subsequent foreclosure sales.Read more

United States Attorney William N. Nettles has announced that Jill Diane Brennan of Myrtle Beach, S.C. pled guilty in federal court to conspiracy to commit bank fraud, a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349. United States District Judge Terry L. Wooten of Florence accepted the plea and will impose sentence after he has reviewed a presentence report prepared by the U.S. Probation Office.Read more