Mortgage fraud

One-time Modesto City Council candidate Robert Farrace, an attorney and real estate broker, was sentenced to two years in federal prison for defrauding real estate lenders.

The man authorities called the mastermind behind a complex mortgage fraud scheme targeting distressed properties was arrested June 7 in South Carolina and charged with being a fugitive in violation of probation.

Federal law enforcement authorities have arrested 74 people in this country and abroad, accusing them of participating in a wire fraud scam whose victims included real estate attorneys and settlement service providers.

Federal authorities charged a third real estate investor with bribery-related offenses in a long-running corruption probe of the process through which the Philadelphia Sheriff's Office sells seized and foreclosed properties.

Two Orange County, Calif., men were to federal prison for their part in a mortgage scheme that led to the fraudulent purchase of more then 100 condominium units and $10 million in losses.

Fannie Mae is warning mortgage lenders and servicers about possible fraud schemes in Los Angeles County involving "34 apparently fictitious employers being used on loan applications."

The ability-to-repay standard is responsible for the reduction in loan application defects over the past four-plus years, according to First American Financial.

A mortgage loan officer from Methuen, Mass., faces six months behind bars for her role in a conspiracy to defraud banks and mortgage companies.

Gary Klopp of Nottingham, Md., was ordered to pay more than $525,000 and temporarily barred from working in the mortgage industry by a U.S. District Court judge for violating a previous court order, according to Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh.

A ring of thieves illegally took ownership of more than 40 homes across South Florida in a multimillion-dollar plan — even stealing properties that belonged to the dead, authorities say.