Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, has announced that Ravi Persaud, a real estate attorney, and George Esso, a former loan officer, were found guilty of participating in a multi-million-dollar mortgage fraud scheme through GuyAmerican Funding Corporation, a mortgage brokerage located in Queens, N.Y. The scheme involved the use of numerous fraudulent loan applications designed to trick banks into lending money to unqualified borrowers for the purchase of residential properties in the New York City area.Click to continue

Colorado Attorney General John Suthers has announced that his office has filed a lawsuit against a Denver man, Sherron L. Lewis Jr., suspected of defrauding homeowners in foreclosure, including the elderly and disabled, by collecting upfront fees in exchange for fraudulent legal services. According to the complaint, Lewis Jr. attracted homeowners facing foreclosure through his Web site, www.illegalforeclosures.com, and mail advertising and informed consumers that they could defeat the foreclosure process and eliminate their mortgages.Click to continue

New Jersey Attorney General Paula T. Dow has announced that a New Jersey loan modification company and its owners have agreed to a judgment of $5,051,253 to settle civil charges they defrauded homeowners who sought help in avoiding mortgage foreclosure. In addition to civil penalties of $5 million, corporate defendants Hope Now Financial Services Corporation and Hope Now Modifications LLC of Cherry Hill, N.J., along with individual defendants Salvatore A. Puglia Sr. and Nicholas F.Click to continue

Frank J. Dattilo of Holland, Pa. has pleaded guilty today to two counts of mail fraud in connection with a scheme to defraud mortgage lenders and enrich himself. Dattilo was the owner and operator of the mortgage brokerage firm Provident Financial Group (PFG), which was located in Bensalem, Pa. Dattilo marketed to people with poor credit or low incomes.Click to continue

Nine criminal complaints were unsealed that charged 28 individuals with participating in various mortgage fraud scams that collectively sought to defraud lenders out of more than $5.5 million and involved more than 17 New Jersey properties, U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Paul J. Fishman and FBI Special Agent in Charge Michael B. Ward announced.Click to continue

Gary A. Noble of Denver, Colorado, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Denver, which returned a 63-count wire fraud indictment related to a mortgage fraud scheme, United States Attorney David Gaouette and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agent in Charge James Davis announced. Noble was arrested by FBI special agents without incident on June 3, 2010 in California. He will make his initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Denver on June 18, 2010, where he will be advised of the charges pending against him. He was released yesterday on bond.Click to continue

A 49-year-old Fridley, Minn. man has pleaded guilty in federal court in Minneapolis to defrauding eight mortgage lenders of $1.9 million. Appearing before United States District Court Judge David S. Doty, Taleb Mohamed Wazwaz pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mortgage fraud through the use of interstate wires. Wazwaz was charged via an Information on April 19, 2010.Click to continue

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Goldman Sachs & Company and one of its vice presidents for defrauding investors by misstating and omitting key facts about a financial product tied to sub-prime mortgages as the U.S. housing market was beginning to falter. The SEC alleges that Goldman Sachs structured and marketed a synthetic collateralized debt obligation (CDO) that hinged on the performance of sub-prime residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS).Click to continue

Kelsey Torrey Hull and Jonathan Alfred Kimpson both of Lithonia, Ga., have pleaded guilty in federal district court to a conspiracy to defraud reverse mortgage lenders and the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) insurer of the loans. Hull pleaded guilty to an additional bank fraud charge involving mortgage fraud, and Kimpson pleaded to an additional identity theft charge. U.S.Click to continue

Shawn R. Tieskotter of Greenwood Village, Colo., and Craig D. Patterson of Littleton, Colo., were indicted by a federal grand jury in Denver on March 10, 2010, on charges of money laundering, wire and mail fraud. Patterson was arrested by federal agents without incident. He appeared in U.S. District Court in Denver on March 12, 2010, for an initial appearance where he was advised of the charges pending against him. He was arraigned March 17, 2010. Shawn Tieskotter received a summons to appear in U.S.Click to continue