A Downey, Calif. woman who orchestrated a real estate fraud scheme that caused nearly $13 million in losses after falsely promising to help homeowners in default on their mortgages has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison. A second person involved in the scheme was sentenced yesterday to 15 years in prison after a federal judge determined that he had refused to account for proceeds of the scheme in an off-shore bank account that he had agreed in his plea agreement to repatriate.Read more

Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that Manhattan real estate developer Michael Hershkowitz was sentenced to four years in prison for his participation in a $27 million Ponzi scheme involving fraudulent loans secured by nonexistent mortgages. According to the documents filed in the case in Manhattan federal court, Hershkowitz, working through a Manhattan real estate development company, The Kingsland Group Inc., and related entities (collectively, The Kingsland Group), fraudulently induced approximately 100 individuals tRead more

Four participants in an extensive mortgage fraud scheme that affected 210 residential properties, including 205 in Montgomery County, have been sentenced in federal court by U.S. District Judge Michael R. Barrett. Carter M. Stewart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Keith L. Bennett, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation; Jose Gonzalez, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, and other members of the Dayton Mortgage Fraud Task Force announced the sentences handed down by U.S. District Judge Michael A.Read more

Jeffrey L. Levin of Atlanta, pleaded guilty in federal district court to causing materially false entries that overvalued bank assets to be made in the books, reports and statements of Omni National Bank. Acting United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said, “This case demonstrates the damage that can result when senior bank officials ignore rules and regulations designed to protect a bank by identifying problem loans.Read more

A federal grand jury here has indicted six members of a family and one of their employees charging them with operating a mortgage fraud conspiracy between 2004 and 2009. Carter M. Stewart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Keith L. Bennett, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Jose A. Gonzalez, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, and Gerald A. O’Farrell, Assistant Inspector in Charge, announced the indictment returned against the following individuals:Read more

Jared Tornow, a San Clemente, Calif. man who acted as a mortgage broker under several umbrellas, including the Orange-based Lucrativo Real Estate Solutions Inc., was sentenced to 70 months in federal prison for his conviction on tax evasion, mail fraud and credit card fraud charges related to a mortgage fraud scheme that caused at least $7 million in losses. Tornow was sentenced by United States District Judge David O. Carter, who called Tornow’s scheme one of the most sophisticated and arrogant frauds he had ever seen.Read more

U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz sentenced Jamilah Al-Bari of District Heights, Md. to a year and a day in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for mail fraud arising from the fraudulent purchase of properties in Maryland, the District of Columbia and Virginia, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein. Judge Motz also ordered Al-Bari to pay restitution of between $400,000 and $1 million, with the exact amount to be set at a later date.Read more

Patricia Morgen has pleaded guilty in federal court in San Francisco to wire fraud, mail fraud and money laundering, United States Attorney Joseph P.Read more

U.S. District Judge Roger W. Titus has sentenced Jennifer McCall, age 48, the chief executive officer of the Metropolitan Money Store, of Fort Washington, Md., to 135 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in connection with a mortgage fraud scheme that falsely promised to help homeowners facing foreclosure keep their homes and repair their damaged credit, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein.Read more

Godwin Asifo of Woodbridge, Va., was sentenced today to 57 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for running a mortgage fraud scheme that resulted in the foreclosure of at least three homes in northern Virginia. He was also ordered to pay $546,685.20 in restitution. Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Joseph Persichini Jr., Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office, made the announcement after sentencing by United States District Judge Claude M. Hilton.Read more