Press Releases

DAYTON – Cynthia A. Faulkner, 34, of Dayton, Ohio, was sentenced to 21 months in prison for fraudulently obtaining food card benefits and submitting false income tax documents. Faulkner pleaded guilty in January to three counts of making a false document, two counts of aiding in the filing of a…

(Source: USAO, DC) WASHINGTON – Nine individuals have been sentenced on federal charges stemming from a mortgage fraud scheme involving 45 properties and $16 million in mortgage loans used for the purchase of residential real estate in the District of Columbia and Maryland. The sentences were…

Also Admits Role in Fraudulent $20,000 Home Rehabilitation Loan Scheme (Source: USAO, NJ) NEWARK, N.J. – A Hudson County, New Jersey, man today admitted using excessive force during an arrest, falsifying records in an attempt to conceal his conduct and helping a relative fraudulently obtain a home…

(Source: DOJ) WASHINGTON – The owner of a Florida mortgage company was sentenced today to serve 135 months in prison for orchestrating a $64 million mortgage fraud scheme. Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of…

Suit Alleges that Purported Charity Concealed Problem Lenders from Federal Housing Administration (Source: USAO, Eastern District of New York) Kelly T. Currie, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, David A. Montoya, Inspector General for the Department of Housing and…

(Source: FBI.gov) NEWARK N.J.—An Elizabeth, New Jersey, man today admitted recruiting straw buyers and submitting bogus loan applications as part of large-scale mortgage fraud scheme involving properties in northern New Jersey, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. Miguel LaRosa, 48, pleaded…

(Source: Justice.gov) Franklin American Mortgage Company has agreed to pay the United States $70 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by knowingly originating and underwriting mortgage loans insured by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD)…

(Source: USAO SC) United States Attorney Bill Nettles stated that Michael Yant, age 40, of Lexington, South Carolina, was sentenced today in federal court in Columbia, South Carolina, for Wire Fraud, a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343, in connection with a mortgage fraud scheme.  United States…

(Source: USAO, CT) Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that MEHDI MOAREFIAN, a.k.a. “Michael Miller,” 36, and DANIEL SHIAU, a.k.a. “Scott Decker,” 30, both of Irvine, Calif., pleaded guilty yesterday in Bridgeport federal court to conspiring to…

(Source: USAO, MD) Greenbelt, Maryland – A federal grand jury returned an indictment late yesterday against Rene de Jesus de Leon, age 47, and his wife, Pedrina Rodriguez Bonilla, age 37, both of Silver Spring, Maryland, and Ana Maritza Gomez, age 43, of Hyattsville, Maryland, on charges arising…