Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Joseph M. Demarest Jr., the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), have announced the unsealing of an indictment charging Louis Cherico, a lawyer who practiced in New York City and Westchester County, with participating in a wide-ranging scheme to commit mortgage fraud, obstruction of justice, and money laundering.

According to the Indictment filed in Manhattan federal court:Read more

A federal grand jury in San Francisco has indicted Michael Ohayon and David Papera with conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and money laundering, United States Attorney Joseph P. Russoniello announced. According to the indictment, Ohayon and Papera are alleged to have recruited 13 straw buyers who used their good credit scores to obtain more than $19.6 million in fraudulent residential mortgage loans from Washington Mutual Bank, with no intention of making either downpayments or mortgage payments on the properties.Read more

Andrew T. Baxter, United States Attorney; Rene Febles, Special Agent in Charge, United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General, John F. Pikus, Special Agent in Charge, Albany Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Patricia J.Read more

A 15-count indictment has been filed against five defendants charged in a $14.6 million mortgage fraud scheme that resulted in at least 35 fraudulent mortgage loans, announced United States Attorney Michael L. Levy, Special Agent-in-Charge of the FBI Janice K. Fedarcyk, and Pennsylvania Secretary of Banking Steven Kaplan. Charged are Edward G. McCusker and John Alford Bariana, owners of Axxium Mortgage Inc., McCusker’s wife, Jacqueline, and Jeffrey A. Bennett and Stephen G. Doherty, owners of the Doylestown law firm Bennett & Doherty PC.Read more

A federal grand jury sitting in Eugene, Ore., has returned indictments against 13 individuals on a variety of mortgage and loan fraud charges arising out of the collapse of Desert Sun Development (DSD), a company previously headquartered in Bend, Ore. From 2004 through 2008, DSD built commercial buildings and residential housing throughout Central Oregon. According to the indictments, DSD principals and other defendants caused financial institutions to lose more than $19 million. In total, five separate indictments were returned.Read more