Compliance & Regulation

A Minneapolis broker who helped borrowers tap area credit unions and banks for more than $8 million in mortgages to buy homes at inflated prices was sentenced Monday to 10-and-a-half years in prison.

Although they will not be supervised by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, executives of small financial institutions told a congressional panel Monday they remain uneasy about the effect the bureau will have on their businesses.

On Oct. 17, U.S. District Judge Neil V. Wake SENTENCED TALAL ASHEK TO TWO YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON. Ashek was also ordered to pay over $2.9 million in restitution. Ashek had previously pleaded guilty on Aug. 4 to one count of conspiracy to submit false claims to a lending institution for his role in a mortgage fraud conspiracy.

Fannie Mae Monday morning confirmed to National Mortgage News that its multifamily unit is the subject of an Inspector General probe being conducted by the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

A Realtor's attempt to defraud a Midwest Bank of $60,000 was thwarted with the assistance of a Web-based offer-processing service that eliminates the possibility of foreclosure fraud.

A 45-count indictment for fraud and money laundering has been charged by a federal grand jury in Newark, N.J., against the leader of an investment fraud scheme that allegedly caused more than $200 million in losses.

JPMorgan Chase late last week rebutted federal claims that it misled four now defunct corporate credit unions into buying $1.5 billion of risky MBS and pointed the finger - as NCUA's own internal reviews have - at the management of the failed corporates and at NCUA's own examiners.

WASHINGTON — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau faces one of its biggest challenges in how to finalize a rule that would require a lender to verify a borrower's ability to repay a mortgage loan.

The Georgia Department of Banking and Finance this week issued a cease and desist order against two mortgage companies for allegedly conducting business in the state without a license.

County lawyers in Texas are setting their sights on MERS, claiming Merscorp Inc. and its subsidiary, Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc., avoided paying millions in property recording fees.