Tag Archives: Fraud

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman's proposed Foreclosure Fraud Prevention Act of 2012 passed in the state Assembly, the Office of the Attorney General announced Thursday. Schneiderman introduced the legislation as part of an effort to protect homeowners from foreclosure and crack down on fraudulent business practices. The Foreclosure Fraud Prevention Act defines ""residential mortgage foreclosure fraud"" and imposes criminal penalties-including jail time-for employees who engage in fraudulent conduct (like knowingly authorizing, preparing, executing, or filing false documents in a foreclosure action) or managers who knowingly tolerate such behavior.

California Attorney General Kamala Harris announced Tuesday that the Assembly Public Safety Committee passed a piece of the California Homeowner Bill of Rights designed to protect the state's homeowners from scams.

A California real estate agent pled guilty to conspiracy to commit real estate fraud after collecting short sale fees he was not entitled to, the California Department of Real Estate announced in a statement Monday. In October 2010, the DRE filed an action against Matthew Wayne Stewart and alleged that he received illegal profits in two short sale transactions in Placer and Nevada counties. Stewart was accused of requiring buyers in the two transactions to pay additional short sale negation fees that were hidden and not disclosed to the lenders or sellers.

The former CFO of Taylor, Bean and & Whitaker Mortgage Corp. (TBW) was sentenced to 60 months in prison for his role in a mortgage fraud scheme involving more than $2.9 billion, which eventually contributed to the collapse of TBW, the Justice Department announced in a statement. Delton de Armas was sentenced Friday by U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema in the Eastern District of Virginia. De Armas, 41, of Carrollton, Texas, pleaded guilty in March to one count of conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud and one count of making false statements, according to the statement.

The former president of Orion Bank was sentenced to 6 years in federal prison for conspiring to commit bank fraud and making false statements to bank examiners, U.S. Attorney Robert E. O'Neill announced Tuesday.

The former head of Keyworth Mortgage Funding Group of New Mexico and Arizona is facing 13 months of prison for bank fraud, the Albuquerque Journal reported Wednesday. A federal judge in Santa Fe ordered Manuel Garcia to pay $585,243.59 to US Bank of Albuquerque, formerly known as First Community Bank.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced Thursday the introduction of his bill in the state Legislature that would protect New Yorkers from fraudulent business practices in the foreclosure process. Schneiderman's bill, titled The Foreclosure Fraud Prevention Act of 2012, defines residential mortgage foreclosure fraud and imposes new criminal penalties for those who intentionally engage in fraudulent conduct, including managers of residential mortgage businesses who tolerate such conduct by their employees. These penalties include jail time.

Foreclosure activity in May was marked by lenders being impacted by local market conditions rather than any national trend, according to ForeclosureRadar's May 2012 Foreclosure Report. The report examined all foreclosure activity - sales, starts, and timelines - for Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington in the month of May. While foreclosure starts and sales rose overall between the five states, individual activity widely varied.

The Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) announced Thursday that a former investment fund manager pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges. SIGTARP issued a release stating that former fund manager John Farahi pleaded guilty on Thursday to four felony counts-mail fraud, loan fraud, selling unregistered securities, and conspiracy to obstruct justice. Farahi admitted to cheating investors out of millions of dollars by falsely promising to purchase corporate bonds backed by TARP.

California attorney general Kamala Harris announced Wednesday that the state Assembly and Senate each passed components of the California Homeowner Bill of Rights designed to protect homeowners from scams. One of the passed bills, AB 1763/SB 1474, allows the use of special grand juries to prosecute financial crimes that occur across multiple jurisdictions. Under current California law, crimes involving fraud victims across the state require separate grand juries and separate charges filed in each county where the crime was committed.