FACTS
Phil Sotelo, the owner of Realty Executives Sotelo & Associates was arrested for mortgage fraud for recording phony documents at a county office and refused to leave his north Modesto home after it was sold at public auction, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
Owing about $1.4 million on his Papillon Drive home in a gated community, Sotelo posed as a representative of his lender and deeded the property to a corporation he owns, the affidavit says. He is registered to vote at that address. Documents Sotelo allegedly filed with the Stanislaus County recorder's office were "totally fraudulent," the lender's attorney told a district attorney's investigator earlier this month, the affidavit says.
Sotelo acknowledged filing the documents after studying an Internet site purporting to stop foreclosures, investigator Glenn Gulley said in the affidavit. The company claims that lenders don't have legal rights and charges $197 to guide customers through a loan elimination process.
The home sold at auction for $631,712, but Sotelo posted a notice on his front door warning away anyone trying to evict him, the affidavit says. (modbee71911)
MORAL
I am surprised Sotelo would believe such a scheme would work. However, remember he is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. I wonder if the people that sold the loan elimination process were or are being investigated?
SEVEN MORTGAGE PROFESSIONALS IN SACRAMENTO INDICTED FOR MORTGAGE FRAUD
FACTS
On July 19, a federal criminal indictment was unsealed charging seven real estate professionals with conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with a mortgage fraud scheme.
Charged in the case are Moctezuma Tovar; Manuel Herrera; Ruben Rodriguez; and Jaime Mayorga, all licensed real estate agents; Sandra Hermosillo, formerly a loan officer; Jun Michael Dirain, formerly a loan processor; and Christian Parada Renteria, formerly a loan officer.
The indictment alleges that Tovar owned and operated Delta Homes and Lending Inc, a real estate and mortgage lending company where he and the other defendants were employed. Between October 2004 and May 2007, the defendants are alleged to have conspired to obtain home loans from mortgage lenders based upon false and fraudulent loan applications and supporting documents that falsely represented the borrowers' assets and income, liabilities and debts, employment status, and citizenship status. The indictment alleges that, as part of the scheme, the defendants provided money to borrowers in order to fraudulently inflate the borrowers' assets and bank account balances. Once the defendants had secured approved loans based upon their fraudulent representations to lenders, the borrowers returned the money the defendants had provided for the scheme. The indictment alleges that mortgage lenders and others suffered losses of at least $4 million.
If convicted, the defendants face a maximum statutory penalty of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine. (usattyedca71011)
MORAL
As I have been saying the federal prosecutors as well as the civil side like FDIC are running hot and heavy over brokers, loan officers and borrowers for false loans, false status that property will be primary residence and false appraisals among other things. Did you notice the prosecutors went back to 2004 to indict on loans that funded seven years ago?
GEORGIA MAN GETS NEARLY SIX YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON FROM OHIO FEDERAL COURT FOR MORTGAGE FRAUD CONSPIRACY
FACTS
On July 21, Romero Minor, after having previously pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and several counts of wire fraud was sentenced to five and nine months in federal prison for his role in a mortgage fraud conspiracy that involved dozens of properties and $7.5 million in loans. .
Between 2003 and 2006, Minor organized a mortgage fraud scheme involving 48 properties located throughout Mahoning and Trumbull Counties, in which Minor and defendant Wendell Kerr used entities created by Minor to recruit straw buyers to “purchase” these properties in their names. Minor represented to the straw buyers that he needed individuals like them with good credit to “purchase”, or apply for mortgage loans on, properties in their names as a way of helping other individuals in the community with bad credit who could not purchase homes in their own names.
Minor informed the straw buyers that after he purchased these properties in their names, he would enter into a “rent-to-own” agreement with one of the individuals from the community with poor credit in order to help that individual improve his/her credit score by renting the property for a year. Minor represented to the straw buyer that he would collect the rent from these individuals as tenants in the properties, pay the mortgages and taxes for the properties, and maintain the properties for the straw buyers/investors for approximately a year, at the end of which time he would sell the property to the tenant after his/her credit score improved and the property would be transferred out of the straw buyer’s name.
Minor did not assist any individuals with poor credit, nor did he enter into any “rent-to-own” agreements. Instead, Minor conspired with three other individuals previously charged to prepare and submit fraudulent mortgage loan applications to various lenders knowing that they contained false information with regard to the straw buyers in order to secure loans on the 48 properties.
The mortgage loan applications were submitted in the names of straw buyers/investors containing false information including, but not limited to: the straw buyers’/investors’ income, their assets, whether the property would be used as their primary residence, and the source of their down payment funds. Minor had the properties appraised and financed at values far beyond what the properties were worth, according to court documents.
Once the lenders were induced to approve and fund the loans based on the fraudulent loan applications, Minor received thousands of dollars at closing from the mortgage proceeds with the assistance of title agents, who are also defendants in this case.
The defendants’ fraudulent conduct induced Argent Mortgage Co. LLC, Aegis Mortgage Corp., America’s Wholesale Lender, First Franklin Financial Corp., BNC Mortgage Inc., Concorde Acceptance and New Century Mortgage Corp. to fund the mortgage loans causing losses of more than $2 million. (usattyndoh72111)
MORAL
Did you notice the prosecutors went back to 200 3for the fraud loans? That is over eight years ago.
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