Donna Demello has pleaded guilty in federal court in Oakland to conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud for her role in a mortgage fraud scheme, United States Attorney Melinda Haag announced. At the time of the offense, Demello worked as an escrow officer at Stewart Title in Milpitas, Calif. Demello, currently of San Jose, Calif., was indicted by a federal grand jury on May 13, 2010. She and five others, including James Delbert McConville, were charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349.Read more

A federal grand jury in Baltimore indicted John Stewart Morrison IV of Columbia, Md., on two counts of mail fraud and indicted Clifford Michael Seibert of Berlin, Md., and Seibert’s company, Modular Homes Wholesaler Inc. on two counts of wire fraud in connection with a mortgage fraud scheme. Each indictment also seeks the forfeiture of the proceeds of the scheme, alleged to be $431,317 for Morrison and $363,808 for Seibert.Read more

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; Henry Gutierrez, Postal Inspector in Charge, U.S. Postal Inspection Service; John V. Gillies, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office; and J. Thomas Cardwell, Commissioner, State of Florida Office of Financial Regulation, have announced that defendant John Fisher of Jupiter, Fla., has plead guilty in federal court to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and to one count of substantive mail fraud.Read more

Liza Bautista of Tukwila, Wash., has been arraigned in U.S. District Court in Seattle on charges of mail fraud, wire fraud and misuse of a Social Security Number, in connection with a scheme to defraud lenders and line her own pocket. According to the indictment, between August 2005, and July 2006, Bautista engaged in a scheme to defraud lenders by submitting false and fraudulent information in connection with home loans.Read more

Acting United States Attorney Robert S. Cessar has announced that Ralph Esposito, a resident of Beaver, Pa., has pleaded guilty in federal court to a charge of mail fraud and wire fraud conspiracy. Esposito pleaded guilty to one count before United States District Judge David S. Cercone.Read more

United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner, FBI Special Agent in Charge Drew S. Parenti, and IRS Special Agent in Charge Scott O’Briant have announced that a federal grand jury in Sacramento returned an indictment charging eight persons in a real estate investment fraud scheme operated under the name of Heaven Investments. The following individuals are charged in the indictment:Read more

U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz has sentenced Timothy Reed of Beltsville, Md. to 51 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for mail fraud arising from the fraudulent purchase of 25 properties in Maryland, the District of Columbia, and Virginia using false mortgage and settlement documents. Judge Motz also ordered that Reed pay $4,196,967 in restitution.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

The United States Attorney’s Office has announced that William DeVaughn Orander III of Goldsboro, N.C. has pled guilty before United States District Judge James C. Dever III, to conspiring to commit mail, wire, and bank fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349. According to the information, Orander, a licensed attorney in the Eastern District of North Carolina and acting as the closing attorney for numerous real estate transactions, devised and participated in a fraudulent scheme which occurred between April of 2004 and January of 2008.Read more

A former Las Vegas resident has pleaded guilty to conspiracy for his involvement in a Nevada mortgage fraud scheme involving straw buyers and falsified mortgage loan documents, announced Daniel G. Bogden, United States Attorney for the District of Nevada. Brian K. Jackson, currently of Anaheim, Calif., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge James C. Mahan to conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and bank fraud and is scheduled for sentencing on Oct. 8, 2010. Jackson was indicted by the Federal Grand Jury in Las Vegas on Oct. 21, 2009.Read more