The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, recently finalized regulations (Final Rule) requiring non-bank Residential Mortgage Lenders and Originators (RMLOs) to establish an Anti-Money Laundering Program (AML Program) and file Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs), as FinCEN requires of other types of financial institutions.¹Click to continue

Eleven individuals from five states have been charged in New Jersey for their alleged roles in a $15 million mortgage fraud scam that used phony documents and “straw buyers” to make illegal profits on overbuilt condos, including a defendant who attempted to murder a witness to the scheme, New Jersey U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. Willie W. Richardson of Bloomfield, N.J.; Sean A. Souels of Philadelphia; Nancy E. Wolf-Fels of Toms River, N.J.; Deborah L. Hanson of Voorhees, N.J.; Seth A. Fuscellaro of Wildwood Crest, N.J.; Larry L.Click to continue

Pressing forward in its efforts to address a wide range of criminal risks, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has released its first targeted study analyzing reports indicating suspicious activities involving the real estate title and escrow industry. The study identified thousands of instances where financial institutions, particularly banks and Money Services Businesses (MSBs), filed suspicious activity reports (SARs) involving title and escrow companies, often in connection with mortgage fraud.Click to continue

James Delbert McConville has been sentenced to 93 months in prison, and ordered to pay more than $7 million in restitution for conspiring to commit mail and wire fraud related to approximately 80 fraudulent loan applications secured by real property in Escondido and San Marcos, Calif. McConville pleaded guilty on Jan. 25, 2012, to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and to money laundering.Click to continue

New Jersey Attorney General Jeffrey S. Chiesa has announced that five people have pleaded guilty for their roles in a scheme, led by Genilza R. Nunes of Kearny, N.J. (aka Leticia Wilchez, Geny Silva, Gena Nunez and Genilza Borges) to defraud Provident Funding Associates of $431,200 by filing a false loan application and purchasing a home in Newark in the name of a man who was deceased. Nunes pleaded guilty on May 8 to second-degree money laundering before Superior Court Judge Salem Vincent Ahto in Morris County, N.J.Click to continue

William Brown of Newark, N.J. has admitted his role in a $40.8 million mortgage fraud conspiracy, recruiting “straw buyers” to purchase real estate properties in New Jersey, South Carolina and Georgia and causing lenders to release more than $18 million based on fraudulent mortgage loan applications, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. Brown pleaded guilty to an information charging him with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He entered his guilty plea before Senior U.S. District Judge Joseph E. Irenas in Camden, N.J.Click to continue

A Sussex County, N.J. woman has been convicted for her role in a wire fraud and money laundering scheme involving phony mortgages issued for properties in New Jersey and Florida, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. The jury found Crystal Paling of Hamburg, N.J. guilty of both counts charged in the indictment against her: Conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The jury reached a decision following two hours of deliberation at the conclusion of a three-week trial before U.S. District Judge Peter G. Sheridan in Trenton federal court.Click to continue

David B. Fein, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, has announced that Robert Ilunga of Naugatuck, Conn. waived his right to indictment and has pled guilty before United States Magistrate Judge Donna F. Martinez in Hartford to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. The charges stem from ILUNGA’s participation in a multi-million-dollar mortgage fraud scheme that involved more than 40 properties located in Bridgeport, Conn.Click to continue

A federal jury has convicted Andrew Hamilton Williams Jr. of Hollywood, Fla. of fraud conspiracy, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with his participation in a massive mortgage fraud scheme which promised to pay off homeowners’ mortgages on their “Dream Homes,” but left them to fend for themselves.Click to continue

Louis Amir of Gates Mills, Ohio has been convicted on 21 counts following a jury trial for his role in a $6.7 million mortgage fraud conspiracy, said Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio. Amir used the money he illegally obtained through his schemes to buy luxury items, including high-end speakers, a plasma television, a Rolls-Royce and a Bentley automobile, among other items, according to court documents.Click to continue