Barclays Bank PLC, a United Kingdom corporation headquartered in London, has agreed to forfeit $298 million to the United States and to the New York County District Attorney’s Office in connection with violations of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and the Trading with the Enemy Act (TWEA), announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division and District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr., of the New York County District Attorney’s Office.Read more

Acting United States Attorney Robert S. Cessar has announced that Dean Ackinclose, a resident of Clairton, Pa., has pleaded guilty in federal court to a charge of wire fraud conspiracy. Ackinclose has pled guilty to one count before United States District Judge Terrence McVerry.Read more

Two indictments of 13 Oahu residents and one from the state of Washington on mortgage fraud related charges have been unsealed with the arrests of 10 of the 14 defendants. A federal grand jury had returned the indictments on Aug. 11, 2010, but they had remained sealed. One indictment charged 10 defendants in 56 counts of conspiracy, wire fraud, and false statements on loan applications, while the other named four defendants in 33 counts of the same nature. The 14 named defendants are:Read more

Two Prior Lake, Minn. men have pleaded guilty in federal court in Minneapolis for their roles in a scheme that defrauded mortgage lenders out of more than $2.5 million by causing them to make loans based on false information. Appearing before United States District Court Judge David S. Doty, Beau Wesley Gensmer pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering in connection to that crime. Christopher Glenn Kennedy pleaded guilty to the same charges on Aug. 6, 2010. Gensmer and Kennedy were indicted on April 21, 2010.Read more

A federal jury has convicted Robert Dewain Venson of Fort Washington, Md., for mail and wire fraud, money laundering and failing to file tax returns in connection with a three-year mortgage fraud scheme involving 13 residential properties. The conviction was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Richard A.Read more

United States Attorney Benjamin Wagner has announced that a federal grand jury returned a 48-count indictment charging 10 defendants with conspiracy to commit mortgage fraud, mail fraud, and making false statements in mortgage applications to federally insured banks. The defendants are as follows: Hoda Samuel of Elk Grove, Calif.; Connie Devers of Elk Grove, Calif.; Dana Faulkner of Oakland, Calif.; Charles Robert Maness of Elk Grove, Calif.; Tracy Painter of Lodi, Calif.; Sean Patrick Gjerde of Elk Grove, Calif.; Ronald Burris of Elk Grove, Calif.; YRead more

Following a seven-week trial, a federal jury found five defendants guilty of mortgage fraud stemming from a scheme that involved 21 properties in the Greater Boston area, 10 mortgage lenders, and more than $10.6 million in loan proceeds. United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Warren T.Read more

U.S. Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner has announced that U.S. District Judge William B. Shubb has sentenced William T. Bridge of Cambria, Calif., to 21 months in prison, to be followed by one year of supervised release, $1,057,700.90 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and a $60,000 fine for multiple counts of filing false tax returns and paying kickbacks in connection with real estate loan transactions. Bridge pleaded guilty on June 16, 2008. This case is the product of a joint investigation by the FBI and the IRS-Criminal Investigation.Read more

A Tarzana, Calif. woman has pleaded guilty to federal tax charges, admitting that she filed more than 200 false tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that sought over $1.3 million in refunds based on fraudulently claimed First-Time Homebuyer Credits and Earned Income Tax Credits. Kashawn Monique Savery, a real estate broker who until recently lived in Reseda, Calif., pleaded guilty before United States District Judge Dale S. Fischer.Read more

A Newport Coast, Calif. man who defrauded the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) by fraudulently obtaining mortgage loans that went into default has been sentenced to five years in federal prison. Lorenzo Espinoza was sentenced by United States District Judge Stephen V. Wilson, who also ordered the defendant to pay HUD restitution of more than $614,000.Read more