real estate fraud: Accountant Involved in Rental Fraud Scheme Sentenced
- 11/05/14 01:31 AM
Trumbull Accountant Involved in Fraud Scheme is Sentenced The United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut announced that THOMAS RAGONESE, 55, of Trumbull, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Robert N. Chatigny in Hartford to three years of probation, the first six months of which RAGONESE must spend in home confinement on electronic monitoring, for participating in a scheme to defraud a Bridgeport-based residential property owner. He was also ordered to perform 60 hours of community service. According to court documents and statements made in court, Anthony Testo and his business, ACT Builders, Inc., were contracted to (0 comments)
real estate fraud: Mortgage Fraud Blog for November 5, 2014
- 11/04/14 01:35 PM
Mortgage Fraud Blog sends me an update email once per week. The Mortgage Fraud Blog website is updated every business day and you can always get the latest news by visiting www.mortgagefraudblog.com. Copyright 2004-2014 Rachel M. Dollar (0 comments)
real estate fraud: Alabama Real Estate Investor Guilty of Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud
- 11/03/14 05:52 AM
Alabama Real Estate Investor Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud An Alabama real estate investor pleaded guilty yesterday for his role in a conspiracy to commit mail fraud related to public real estate foreclosure auctions held in southern Alabama, the Department of Justice announced today. To date, 10 individuals and two companies have pleaded guilty in connection with the department’s ongoing investigation into bid rigging and fraudulent schemes in the Alabama real estate foreclosure auction industry. Chad E. Foster, a resident of Theodore, Alabama, pleaded guilty yesterday to an indictment filed in the U.S. District Court for (6 comments)
real estate fraud: Mortgage Fraud Blog for November 2, 2014
- 11/02/14 01:02 AM
Mortgage Fraud Blog sends me an update email once per week. The Mortgage Fraud Blog website is updated every business day and you can always get the latest news by visiting www.mortgagefraudblog.com. Copyright 2004-2014 Rachel M. Dollar (2 comments)
real estate fraud: Illinois Lawyer & Talk Show Host Convicted in $9.7 Mil Mortgage Fraud
- 10/24/14 10:58 AM
Illinois Lawyer and Internet Radio Talk Show Host Convicted in $9.7 Million Mortgage Fraud Schemes CHICAGO—An Illinois lawyer and Internet radio talk show host was convicted today on federal charges for engaging in two mortgage fraud schemes that defrauded lenders of a total of approximately $9.7 million. The defendant, WARREN BALLENTINE, schemed with others to obtain more than two dozen fraudulent mortgage loans and represented buyers at multiple closings, knowing that they were fraudulently qualified for loans to purchase homes in Chicago and various southern suburbs. Ballentine, 43, of Durham, N. Car., and formerly of Country Club Hills, owned the (4 comments)
real estate fraud: Miami-Dade Residents Convicted in $8 Million Investment Fraud Scheme
- 10/23/14 10:42 AM
Miami-Dade Residents Convicted in $8 Million Investment Fraud Scheme Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, announce that Lawrence Foster, 49, of Miami Beach, the President of Paradise is Mine, was found guilty by a federal jury in Miami of conspiring to commit wire fraud and seven counts of wire fraud. Johana Leon, 38, of Miami Beach, a corporate officer of Paradise is Mine, meanwhile, was found guilty of three counts of structuring currency transactions by the (0 comments)
real estate fraud: Woman Sentenced in White Plains to 51 Months in Prison for Bank Fraud
- 10/23/14 10:33 AM
Dutchess County Woman Sentenced in White Plains Federal Court to 51 Months in Prison for Wire Fraud, Filing False Claims, Bank Fraud, and Corruptly Interfering with the IRS Defendant Ordered to Forfeit $96,000 in Gold and Silver She Had Bought with the Proceeds of Her Crimes Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that
MELANIE FERREIRA
was sentenced yesterday afternoon in White Plains federal court to 51 months in prison following her conviction for engaging in a series of frauds, which included cheating the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) out of nearly (2 comments)
real estate fraud: Fraudster Homebuilder Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison
- 10/22/14 04:11 AM
Fraudster Homebuilder Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison for Defrauding Investors of $19.805 Million and Evading $2.6 Million in Taxes “The Sentence Fits the Crime” BALTIMORE, MD—U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz today sentenced Patrick J. Belzner, a/k/a “Patrick McCloskey,” age 45, of Selbyville, Delaware to 15 years in prison followed, by three years of supervised release, on charges of wire fraud conspiracy, wire fraud and tax evasion. Judge Motz also entered an order that Belzner pay $19.805 million in restitution. The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent (5 comments)
real estate fraud: Mortgage Fraud Blog for October 22, 2014
- 10/21/14 06:02 PM
Mortgage Fraud Blog sends me an update email once per week. The Mortgage Fraud Blog website is updated every business day and you can always get the latest news by visiting www.mortgagefraudblog.com. Copyright 2004-2014 Rachel M. Dollar (4 comments)
real estate fraud: Couple Guilty of Stealing from Elderly Victim to Purchase Beach House
- 10/20/14 06:16 AM
West Virginia Couple Guilty of Stealing from Elderly Victim to Purchase Beach House WHEELING, WV—A Wetzel County couple was convicted in federal court of stealing nearly $400,000.00 from a 90-year-old victim in order to purchase a vacation home in the Outer Banks, United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II, announced today. Following a three day trial, Timothy Summers, 67, and Lea Ann Summers, 52, of Proctor, West Virginia, were found guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, four counts of mail fraud, one count of securities fraud, and one count of interstate transportation of (10 comments)
real estate fraud: Philadelphia EXIT Realty “Tri-State" Founder Charged With Ponzi Fraud
- 10/16/14 07:44 AM
West Chester Woman Charged in Real Estate Ponzi Scheme PHILADELPHIA— Marie Mikesche Bontigao, 43, of West Chester, PA, was charged by indictment, unsealed yesterday, in a fraud scheme involving more than $2 million, announced United States Attorney Zane David Memeger. She is charged with wire and mail fraud. Bontigao was a licensed real estate broker who operated a franchise location of EXIT Realty in Philadelphia, New Jersey and Delaware and was the founder of the EXIT Realty “Tri-State Group: and “Tri-State Investment Holdings, Inc.” (T.R.I.H.I.).According to the indictment, between 2007 and 2013, Bontigao solicited individuals (5 comments)
real estate fraud: Mortgage Fraud Blog for October 15, 2014
- 10/14/14 05:26 PM
Mortgage Fraud Blog sends me an update email once per week. The Mortgage Fraud Blog website is updated every business day and you can always get the latest news by visiting www.mortgagefraudblog.com. Copyright 2004-2014 Rachel M. Dollar Legal Disclaimer. The information and notices contained on Mortgage Fraud Blog are intended to summarize recent developments in mortgage fraud cases and mortgage banking matters nationwide. The posts on this site are presented as general research and information and are expressly not intended, and should not be regarded, as legal advice. Much of the information on this site concerns (6 comments)
real estate fraud: Pastor Guilty of Embezzling More Than $900,000 from Community Center
- 10/10/14 10:15 AM
Local Pastor Pleads Guilty to Embezzling More Than $900,000 from Community Center TULSA, OK— Willard Lenord Jones, 63, of Tulsa, church pastor and former Executive Director of the Greater Cornerstone Community Development Project, pleaded guilty today before United States District Judge John E. Dowdell to three counts of wire fraud and one count of subscribing to a false tax return, announced U.S. Attorney Danny C. Williams Sr., for the Northern District of Oklahoma. Jones was charged by information on August 13, 2014, and sentencing is scheduled for January 12, 2015 at 10:00 a.m. At the change of plea (6 comments)
real estate fraud: Mortgage Fraud Blog for October 8, 2014
- 10/07/14 05:29 PM
Mortgage Fraud Blog sends me an update email once per week. The Mortgage Fraud Blog website is updated every business day and you can always get the latest news by visiting www.mortgagefraudblog.com. Copyright 2004-2014 Rachel M. Dollar (0 comments)
real estate fraud: Brother & Sister, One Other Person Guilty in $15 Mil Mortgage Fraud
- 10/07/14 03:36 AM
Brother and Sister, One Other Person Convicted at Trial in $15 Million Mortgage Fraud Scheme CAMDEN, NJ—A federal jury convicted a brother and sister and one other person today for conspiring to defraud financial institutions as part of a $15 million mortgage fraud scam that used phony documents and “straw buyers” to make illegal profits on overbuilt condos, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. The jury returned the guilty verdicts after five hours of deliberation following a four-week trial before U.S. District Judge Jerome B. Simandle in Camden federal court. Nancy Wolf-Fels, 57, of Toms River, New Jersey; (2 comments)
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