A former California-licensed real estate appraiser was sentenced to three years in federal prison and ordered to pay more than $46 million in restitution for her role in a massive mortgage fraud scheme that caused tens of millions of dollars in losses to federally insured banks. Lila Rizk of Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. received the three-year prison term after her conviction last summer on conspiracy, bank fraud and numerous loan fraud charges.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

Massachusetts State Police assigned to Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley’s Office have arrested Marblehead, Mass. lawyer Leon Gelfgatt as he allegedly attempted to retrieve over $1.3 million dollars in mortgage funds in connection with a sophisticated mortgage fraud scheme. Gelfgatt, allegedly used false documents to create the appearance that mortgages on several Massachusetts properties which were scheduled for impending sale had been transferred to a fake company allegedly created by Gelfgatt.Read more

A 35-year-old Blaine, Minn. man has pleaded guilty to defrauding CitiMortgage out of $588,200.51 through a mortgage fraud scheme. Appearing before United States District Court Judge John Tunheim in Minneapolis, Jeffrey Michael Taylor pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with this crime. Taylor was charged on Nov. 13.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

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

U.S. District Judge Roger W. Titus has sentenced the president of the Metropolitan Money Store, Joy Jackson, age 41, of Fort Washington, Md., to 151 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

A former Las Vegas resident has been charged with federal conspiracy and fraud charges 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.Read more

Jeffrey Todd Crandell, 33, of Mesa, Ariz., pleaded guilty on Nov. 9 to six counts of bank fraud for his role in a mortgage fraud scheme. Sentencing will take place Feb. 22, 2010, before U.S. District Judge G. Murray Snow. Crandell was the leader of a sophisticated cash-back mortgage fraud scheme.Read more

Clarence Lewis III, 46, of Houston, has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison without parole for running a mortgage fraud scheme, United States Attorney Tim Johnson has announced. United States District Judge Lynn N. Hughes handed down the prison sentence at a hearing on Nov. 10. Lewis was convicted May 13, 2009, of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and four counts of wire fraud by Judge Hughes following a bench trial before Judge Hughes.Read more