A fraud suspect might not be easy to pick out of a crowd—or from a rap sheet. The average fraud perpetrator has no prior fraud charges or convictions, according to new research by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), a provider of anti-fraud training and education. The offender is commonly between the age of 31-45, and somewhat more likely to be male than female.Read more

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

Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, has announced that Ravi Persaud, a real estate attorney, and George Esso, a former loan officer, were found guilty of participating in a multi-million-dollar mortgage fraud scheme through GuyAmerican Funding Corporation, a mortgage brokerage located in Queens, N.Y. The scheme involved the use of numerous fraudulent loan applications designed to trick banks into lending money to unqualified borrowers for the purchase of residential properties in the New York City area.Read more

A citizen of Ghana has been charged in federal court with wire fraud involving millions of dollars for selling at least 16 condominium units to straw buyers who he recruited for the purpose of obtaining mortgage loans based on false loan applications. United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Boston Field Division; Robert Bethel, Postal Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Boston Division; and Steven D. Ricciardi, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S.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

Two residents of Pittsburgh, Pa. have pleaded guilty in federal court to charges of wire fraud conspiracy and tax evasion, announced United States Attorney David J. Hickton. Colleen Chiavetta pled guilty to two counts before United States Court of Appeals Judge D. Michael Fisher. Colleen Chiavetta's father, John Chiavetta, pled guilty to one count before Judge Fisher.Read more

California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. has announced a $1.1 million judgment against Los Angeles attorney Mitchell Roth after he conned 2,000 desperate homeowners into paying him thousands of dollars to file "frivolous and phony" lawsuits that didn't reduce a penny of mortgage debt for a single client.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