Three FL Residents, RE Firm Charged with Fraud

Three South Florida residents and a real estate brokerage firm have been charged with participating in a mortgage fraud scheme designed to launder drug money. Garry Souffrant, his wife, Yvonne Souffrant, his brother, Gamaliel Souffrant and Progressive Real Estate of Broward Inc., have been charged in a 59 count indictment, according to the U.S. attorney's office for the Southern District of Florida. The indictment alleges that from 2002 to 2008, Garry Souffrant, Yvonne Souffrant and Gamaliel Souffrant used Progressive Real Estate of Broward to launder millions of dollars in drug proceeds through an extensive mortgage fraud scheme by allegedly assisting drug traffickers in purchasing homes and luxury automobiles, including a 2004 Rolls Royce Phantom. The defendants allegedly arranged for and/or acted as straw buyers on behalf of the drug traffickers, which allowed the traffickers to use their drug proceeds to purchase homes and lease automobiles while concealing the source of the income. The defendants also allegedly diverted several million dollars of mortgage loan proceeds to continue to fund the scheme and for their personal use. The defendants made their initial appearances in federal court on May 18 before Federal Magistrate Judge Ted E. Bandstra in Miami. Defendant Garry Souffrant was ordered detained pending trial. The court set bond for defendants Yvonne Souffrant and Gamaliel Souffrant. All three individuals could not be reached for comment and all phone numbers listed for Progressive Real Estate of Broward have been disconnected.