Four Charged in Michigan Mortgage Fraud Scheme

Four individuals have been charged with conducting a million-dollar mortgage fraud scheme in Michigan. Three are charged with racketeering: Dequincy Hyatt, of Detroit; Seaesther Thompson-Hayes, of Flat Rock; and Aaron Brooks, Jr., of Southgate. The fourth, Pietro Biundo, of Washington, Michigan, is charged with filing false documents when selling a home in one of the transactions. According to Michigan's attorney general Mike Cox, in 2006, Mr. Hyatt, managing partner of a homebuilding firm, Mr. Thompson-Hayes, a mortgage broker, and Mr. Brooks, a former credit union service representative, allegedly partnered together to perpetrate a mortgage fraud scheme involving two properties. In the first case, it is alleged the defendants secured a $710,000 mortgage for a $510,000 home in Shelby Township. After paying fees, the defendants were able to skim more than $163,000 off the transaction. In the second case, the defendants allegedly secured a $785,000 mortgage though the straw buyer for a $515,000 Clinton Township home. Mr. Biundo was the seller of the home in this case. The indictment alleges that the defendants sought and obtained a straw buyer for the two targeted luxury properties, who was told that her name and credit, boosted by inflated income and asset data, would be used to purchase the properties. The defendants would make the mortgage payments for her and her name would later be removed from the mortgages. In return, the straw buyer was promised compensation. About a year after the transactions, the defendants stopped making payments and the straw buyer was left with two mortgages in her name and unable to make payments. Both houses went into foreclosure. The defendants were unavailable for comment.