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elliemae
2010 Dec 10, 12:06am
have you ever checked out http://www.mortgagefraudblog.com/? This shit is so common it's unbelievable!
CrowsAreSmart
2010 Dec 10, 12:15am
Thanks for the link! Makes this post look pretty pointless! haha
justme
2010 Dec 10, 12:38am
The small players get arrested and prosecuted. What about the big banks, are we going to see any arrests there soon?
elliemae
2010 Dec 11, 12:33am
Thanks for the link! Makes this post look pretty pointless! haha
No, not pointless. It sucks that it's so common that there are entire blogs dedicated to the fraud.
RayAmerica
2010 Dec 11, 1:15am
The small players get arrested and prosecuted. What about the big banks, are we going to see any arrests there soon?
Goldman Sachs made $billions on fraudulent mortgages. Their fine of $550 million seems big, but in reality, its pocket change compared to what they made ... and no one went to prison. Don't hold your breath on the big banks being prosecuted. Instead, TARP went to these criminals and was used NOT for lending purposes (as stated by Bush/Obama, et all), but rather for balancing out their toxic loans. America truly has the best government money can buy.
Done!
2010 Dec 11, 1:57am
Cases like these are three years to late, the rest of the world is already on to us. It's the Wild Wild West and our financial system is as Lawless as a Deadwood gay bar men's room.
These indictments should have started the day after "Subprime" became the new buzzword in the news.
Three indicted on $1 million mortgage fraud scheme
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Two mortgage brokers and one real estate appraiser were indicted Wednesday in St. Paul Federal Court for allegedly orchestrating a mortgage fraud scheme in which they induced lenders to loan more than $1 million to purchasers to buy properties at inflated prices.
The excess money was then shared among those involved in the scheme. The indictment charges John Anthony Spencer, 30 of Albertville, Partrick Arthur Dols, 37 of Minneapolis and Bryan Joseph Lenton, 31 of Oakdale, with one count of conspiracy to commit mortgage fraud through interstate wire and 10 counts of wire fraud.
In addition, Spencer was charged with one count of money laundering. The properties involved included six single-family homes in north Minneapolis, five residential condominiums units located on Fisk Ave. in St. Paul and four condo units on Dayton Ave. in St. Paul.
In September 2005, Spencer, a mortgage broker at Minnesota One, allegedly agreed to assist the co-conspiring owner of the Fisk Ave. condos in fraud involving the sale of the five units.
In December 2005, Spencer allegedly recruited Lenton, a real estate appraiser, to appraise each of the units at substantially more than their actual value.
After that, Spencer reportedly recruited a straw buyer to purchase the units with loan proceeds provided, based on a fraudulent loan application made by Spencer and Dols, another mortgage broker.
Spencer also allegedly arranged for $227,800 in bogus payments to AC Standard Construction for purported work on two of the five units. No work as actually done. AC Standard Construction was a sham company through which those involved in the fraud received kickbacks.
Spencer engaged in similar conduct in 2006, working with a real estate developer who was trying to sell six single-family homes in north Minneapolis. Spencer also allegedly purchased 10 properties from that real estate developer with borrowed funds and collected more than $77,000 in kickbacks.
He also committed fraud in April 2006 with the condominium owner of the Dayton Ave. units, creating $320,000 that was used to pay our more kickbacks.
If convicted, the men face a possible maximum penalty of five years in prison on the conspiracy charge and 20 years on each wire fraud count. Spencer faces up to 10 additional years for the money laundering count.
#housing