A former mortgage broker was sentenced to 78 months in federal prison for a fraud scheme that involved buying houses in some of Southern California’s most ritzy neighborhoods and selling them to fake buyers at inflated prices.

Mark Alan Abrams of Los Angeles was also ordered Friday to pay more than $41 million in restitution to two federally insured banks.

Abrams, 49, had pleaded guilty to bank fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud and loan fraud, making a false statement on a tax return and obstruction of justice.

In issuing the sentence, U.S. District Court Judge Dean D. Pregerson noted that Abrams’ willingness to defraud banks, utilize credit information belonging to unknowing victims and compel employees to participate in the scheme was “particularly evil.”

Abrams and his business partner, Charles Elliott Fitzgerald, bought homes in neighborhoods like Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Malibu, La Jolla and Carmel, and then used fraudulent appraisal information to resell them for inflated amounts to fake buyers who purchased the properties with loans, prosecutors said.

Fitzgerald, a real estate developer, was sentenced last year to 14 years in federal prison. He had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and loan fraud, running a continuing financial crimes enterprise, money laundering, obstruction of justice and three counts of bank fraud.

The pair recruited the borrowers, repeatedly lied about the homes’ value and ran escrow companies to promote the scheme, according to prosecutors.

Over three years, Lehman Brothers Bank funded 80 loans worth $137 million — $50 million more than what was actually needed to pay for the homes, prosecutors said.

Fitzgerald and Abrams reaped millions of dollars from the inflated loans and passed kickbacks on to their associates through commissions.

When Lehman Brothers sued Fitzgerald and others involved in the scheme in April 2003, Fitzgerald hid his assets and fled the country.

He lived in Samoa until being extradited to Los Angeles in December 2006.

A total of 11 real estate professionals have been convicted of federal charges related to the scheme.

A Phoenix mortgage broker has been convicted on 10 charges of fraud for scamming some homeowners into filing bogus foreclosure paperwork.

Maricopa County prosecutors say 52-year-old Edward L. Carpenter was found guilty by a jury Wednesday after a six-day trial. He faces an Oct. 7 sentencing.

Authorities say Carpenter contacted homeowners and claimed he ran a “mortgage elimination” business that could legally remove their names from their mortgages, giving them free and clear ownership of the properties.

They say Carpenter charged upfront fees of $1,000 or more and got the homeowners to file fraudulent foreclosure paperwork with the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office.

The filings were designed to cloud the title, confuse title companies and cause mortgage companies to fund loans. Prosecutors say Carpenter received more than $257,000 in illegal proceeds from the scheme.

ALEXANDRIA, VA—Aaron V. Hernandez, 41, of McLean, Va., was sentenced today to 63 months in prison, followed by four years of supervised release, for running a mortgage fraud scheme that caused more than $4.5 million in losses. Hernandez was ordered to pay more than $4.5 million in restitution and was ordered to forfeit approximately $2.4 million.

Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Shawn Henry, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office; and Daniel S. Cortez, Inspector in Charge of the Washington Division of the United States Postal Inspection Service, made the announcement after sentencing by United States District Judge Claude M. Hilton.

On May 21, 2010, Hernandez pled guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and bank fraud. According to court documents, Hernandez was employed by a company in Woodbridge, Va., during 2006 and learned from its employees how to falsify the loan applications of prospective purchasers of vacant, sub-divided lots in North Carolina and South Carolina. The fraud included providing fake employment information and inflating buyers’ income levels, value of the real estate that they owned, or other liquid assets purportedly held by the applicants.

In December 2006, Hernandez struck out on his own and formed mortgage companies in Northern Virginia, using the same fraudulent practices he learned from his previous employer. His businesses grew to more than 10 employees, at least three of whom he conspired with to provide false and fraudulent loan applications to lenders.

Court documents list at least 14 properties that Hernandez financed through these fraudulent practices, all of which eventually resulted in foreclosure. The financial loss suffered totaled more than $4.5 million.

This case was investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office and the United States Postal Inspection Service. Assistant United States Attorneys Mark D. Lytle and Inayat Delawala prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/vae. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.uspci.uscourts.gov.

OAKLAND, CA—Donna Demello pleaded guilty in federal court in Oakland today to conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud for her role in a mortgage fraud scheme, United States Attorney Melinda Haag announced. At the time of the offense, Demello worked as an escrow officer at Stewart Title in Milpitas, Calif.

Demello, 44 of San Jose, Calif., was indicted by a federal grand jury on May 13, 2010. She and five others, including James Delbert McConville, were charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349. The Indictment alleges that McConville purchased hundreds of condominiums throughout California in the names of straw buyers, individuals who were promised $5,000 to $10,000 for the use of their names and credit. The loan applications are alleged to have contained false information about the employment, income, and assets of the straw buyers. Demello admitted to participating in the fraudulent approval of approximately 80 loans for condominiums in Escondido, Calif., and San Marcos, Calif. The government has alleged in its filings that loans totaling more than $20 million were approved for the purchase of these condominiums in Southern California, and that more than $11 million of that was paid directly out of escrow to individuals and companies controlled by McConville.

In pleading guilty to Count One of the Indictment, Demello admitted that she conspired with McConville and others to conceal from the lending institutions the “marketing fees” paid to McConville for the sale to straw buyers of approximately 80 condominiums in Escondido and San Marcos. Demello acknowledged that marketing fees paid to McConville averaged about $150,000 per loan transaction.

Demello also admitted that in furtherance of the conspiracy, she would create two “final” versions of the settlement statements on a form approved by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (called the HUD-1). The correct version of the HUD-1 that was provided to the seller would show a large marketing fee paid to an individual or entity associated with McConville. The fraudulent version of the HUD-1 that was sent to the lending institution would not show the payment of any marketing fee. At McConville’s direction, his “marketing fee” would be paid directly from escrow to individuals associated with him and/or one of many corporate entities he controlled, including but not limited to: Diamond House Development, La Mirage HA, Emerald Park Housing, Hi Investments, Kearny Mesa Townhomes, LLC, Stonemark Asset Portfolio, Sunset Drive Media, 3 Mac Asset Portfolio, 3 Mac Development Corp., and Sapphire Park House.

Araks Davoudi, a former employee of Citibank, previously pled guilty to the same conspiracy on Aug. 2, 2010, for her role in creating false verifications of deposit for straw buyers. Two others who worked for McConville have pled guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in a related case, United States v. Raymond Davoudi and Bahareh Shamlou, CR 10-364 SBA. McConville is currently in custody.

The sentencing of Demello is scheduled for Dec. 8, 2010, before U.S. District Court Judge Phyllis J. Hamilton in Oakland. The maximum statutory penalty for each count of conspiracy in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349, is 30 years’ imprisonment and a fine of $1,000,000 or twice the gross gain or loss involved in the conspiracy, whichever is greater. However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.

Keslie Stewart is the Assistant U.S. Attorney who is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Kathleen Turner and Patty Lau. The prosecution is the result of a one year investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development - Office of Inspector General, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office.

Following a two-year investigation in Massachusetts, thanks to a referral by the Massachusetts Division of Banking, an Oxford-area man has been arraigned in regards to a complicated mortgage scheme. Allen Seymour, 42, used fraudulent documents to deceive homeowners and mortgage lenders into multiple real estate transactions on homes in danger of being foreclosed on in Worcester County. Seymour was charged with four counts of Forgery, eight counts of Uttering, 12 counts of Inducing a Lender to Part with Property and Larceny by False Pretenses.

The investigation began first by looking into the alleged creation of fraudulent Verifications of Deposit – a document used to prove a borrower’s assets to a lender. Five individuals were indicted on these counts, including mortgage banker Erik Tancun who had allegedly been creating these fake documents.

The second part of the investigation focused on 14 real estate transactions in Worcester County. According to the authorities, Seymour went after properties dangerously nearing foreclosure. He approached the homeowners and presented various “rescue options.” For homeowners just simply wanting to sell the home and avoid foreclosure, Seymour would offer to buy the property for what was still owed to the foreclosing lender. For property owners who wished to remain in their homes, Seymour offered other rescue options such as refinancing, reverse mortgages, and “lifetime leases.”

Select homeowners were then told they would have to transfer the Title of Property to an “investor.” Many were asked to sign documents, which later proved to be meaningless. Seymour then substituted these documents with documents granting Power of Attorney from the homeowner to fellow schemer, Jason Passell. The documents investors were seeing were completely different than the ones actually signed by the homeowners.

Seymour sought out individuals with good credit looking to start real estate investing. Seymour told these investors that they were helping the homeowners stay out of foreclosure. Some investors were told they were simply “temporary owners” and the true property owner would buy the property back once Seymour assisted them in fixing their poor credit. Other investors were told the homes would be rehabbed by Seymour’s fake company and would be sold for a profit, which would then be shared between Seymour and the investor.

Investigators believe the alleged criminals obtained nearly $3 million in loans. Lenders were fooled by false documents into believing the purchase price was higher than the actual selling amount. Some homeowners were not even aware they were technically selling their property anyways.

Raymond A. Desautels III, who was also part of the scheme, then performed all real estate closings. The lender wired the money to Desautels, based on the fake closing costs. Desautels then prepared fake documents claiming that the investor was using their own funds in the transaction. This attributed to more confusion and misunderstandings for the lender regarding actual costs and transactions.

The homeowners were never present at closing, though forged documents were signed by the false Power of Attorney make it seem as if they had been. Then Desautels issued a proceeds check made payable to the homeowner. Passell and Seymour then cashed the check for themselves at a local check-cashing establishment in Worcester. Investigators believe Seymour cashed over $1 million in proceeds checks.

Notary Public Judith Piette signed documents four different times saying that the homeowners had appeared personally, though they never did. However, authorities do not believe Piette knew of the larger fraud scheme.

Many of the homeowners involved in this situation have been evicted from their homes after being foreclosed upon and many investors were also unable to make the full mortgage payments, resulting in foreclosure on those properties as well.

Desautels pleaded guilty to five counts of Inducing a Lender to Part with Property on December 1, 2009 and was sentenced to two years in state prison. Piette was seen in court on January 13, 2010 and pled guilty to four counts of False Written Report by a Public Officer. Seymour was due back in court for a status conference last Friday, August 20. Passell is charged with seven counts of Uttering and Forgery. He is due in court on August 30 for a status conference.

A Virginia Beach lawyer was sentenced Thursday to 18 months in federal prison for his role in a $2 million mortgage fraud scheme.

William D. Timberlake, 52, pleaded guilty earlier this year to one wire fraud count. He admitted that between Aug. 2005 and May 2006, while working as a settlement agent on seven real estate closings, he failed to disclose to the lenders that the buyers would be receiving a portion of the seller’s proceeds and that he used some of his own funds to pay closing costs.

The court records say that one buyer also was a straw purchaser, meaning that person was not the actual buyer. Timberlake received about $14,000 in fees for his work.

The seven homes involved were in Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake and Hampton. Mortgage companies loaned $2.2 million for the homes but lost more than $600,000 when the buyers defaulted and lost the properties to foreclosure.

Timberlake has agreed to repay $628,000 in restitution. He also agreed, before the Virginia State Bar, to the revocation of his law license.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Alan Salsbury argued for a prison term between 37 and 46 months, which is within the federally recommended guidelines.

U.S. District Judge Jerome B. Friedman, however, granted Timberlake’s request for leniency, shaving about half off the recommended minimum. The judge also allowed Timberlake to self-report to prison in early October.

By Tim McGlone

PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that RAVI PERSAUD, a real estate attorney, and GEORGE ESSO, a former loan officer, were found guilty yesterday of participating in a multi-million-dollar mortgage fraud scheme through GuyAmerican Funding Corp., a mortgage brokerage located in Queens, New York. The scheme involved the use of numerous fraudulent loan applications designed to trick banks into lending money to unqualified borrowers for the purchase of residential properties in the New York City area. In total, ESSO and RAVI PERSAUD were charged along with eight other defendants in a scheme that defrauded banks out of more than $23 million in home mortgage loans.

According to the Superseding Indictment and the evidence introduced at trial before U.S. District Judge SHIRA A. SCHEINDLIN:

RAVI PERSAUD and ESSO participated in a massive mortgage fraud scheme operated through a branch office of GuyAmerican Funding located on Liberty Avenue, in Jamaica, New York. ESSO was a loan officer at GuyAmerican and a licensed real estate broker who received thousands of dollars in commissions based on fraudulent loan applications submitted to lenders. In particular, ESSO was personally involved in submitting loan applications on behalf of borrowers that contained numerous false statements relating to the borrowers’ income, employment, and residence. For example, ESSO and another loan officer, PEGGY PERSAUD, agreed to list fake jobs on the borrowers’ loan applications in order to convince banks that the borrowers made more money than they actually did and were therefore a good credit risk. ESSO directly participated in obtaining over $1 million in fraudulent mortgages through false statements.

Several of the co-conspirators charged as part of the scheme worked with GuyAmerican loan officers to recruit homeowners in financial distress who were willing to sell their homes. These co-conspirators used “straw buyers”—persons who posed as home buyers in exchange for a fee, but who had no intention of living in the mortgaged properties—to perpetrate the scheme. The co-conspirators then arranged home sales between the distressed sellers and the straw buyers, frequently using the same straw buyer to obtain multiple mortgage loans, and all using fraudulent representations about the supposed purchasers’ net worth, employment, and income.

RAVI PERSAUD acted as the closing attorney in connection with many of these fraudulent transactions, including on loans in which the same straw buyer was used to purchase multiple properties within a short period of time. As the closing attorney, RAVI PERSAUD was supposed to represent the interests of the bank in connection with the real estate transaction and distribute the loan proceeds according to a schedule that he provided to the bank. Instead, the evidence established that RAVI PERSAUD acted at the behest of his coconspirators in the scheme, receiving the loan proceeds into his attorney account and subsequently making illicit payments from the loan proceeds to his co-conspirators. RAVI PERSAUD also assisted the scheme by writing checks to co-conspirators in order to set aside six months worth of mortgage payments from the closing proceeds, so that the lenders would not discover the scheme. He further concealed these payments by sending false documents to the banks regarding how the loan proceeds were being distributed.

ESSO, 38, of Saint Albans, New York, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud and one count of bank fraud, and faces a maximum penalty of 60 years in prison.

RAVI PERSAUD, 44, of Glen Head, New York, was convicted of one count of bank and wire fraud and three counts of bank fraud. He faces a maximum sentence of 120 years in prison.

Both defendants will be required to pay restitution to the victims of their offenses, and to forfeit the proceeds of their crimes.

PEGGY PERSAUD, ORETTE KILLIKELLY, and ELTON LORD previously pled guilty.

The case against CHEDDI GOBERDHAN is still pending.

Mr. BHARARA praised the investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the New York State Banking Department and thanked them for their assistance in this case.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney PREET BHARARA stated: “The real estate professionals found guilty yesterday sacrificed their licenses to their greed, and sought to profit at the expense of the banks that relied upon them. This verdict sends the clear message that we will continue to work tirelessly, together with our law enforcement partners, to prosecute mortgage fraud and to hold professionals accountable when they cease to be gatekeepers and decide to join the fraud themselves.”

This case was part of the coordinated takedown of “Operation Bad Deeds,” a joint federal, state, and local law enforcement operation targeting mortgage fraud crimes, announced on October 15, 2009, in which 41 defendants were charged in various mortgage fraud scams in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and North Carolina.

This case was brought in coordination with President BARACK OBAMA’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, on which Mr. BHARARA serves as a Co-Chair of the Securities and Commodities Fraud Working Group. President OBAMA established the interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force to wage an aggressive, coordinated, and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. The task force includes representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general, and state and local law enforcement who, working together, bring to bear a powerful array of criminal and civil enforcement resources. The task force is working to improve efforts across the federal executive branch, and with state and local partners, to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes, ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets, and recover proceeds for victims of financial crimes.

The cases arising from “Operation Bad Deeds” are being overseen by the Office’s Complex Frauds Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys ANTONIA M. APPS and REBECCA ROHR are in charge of the prosecution.

CINCINNATI—Kevin Miller, 55, of Fairfield, was sentenced in United States District Court today to 15 months’ imprisonment for his role in a real estate investment fraud scheme between 2005 and 2008 that defrauded more than 90 victims out of more than $9 million.

Carter M. Stewart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Dugan T. Wong, Assistant Inspector in Charge, U.S. Postal Inspection Service; Keith Bennett, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Cincinnati Field Division (FBI); and Butler County Prosecutor Robin Piper, announced the sentence handed down today by Senior United States District Judge Herman Weber.

In addition to the prison time, Miller’s sentence includes two years of supervised release and an order to pay restitution of $184,354.36 to the three victims directly affected by his actions. Miller is also prohibited from engaging in any further investment solicitation activity.

Miller pled guilty on January 21, 2010 to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and one count of obstruction of an investigation. According to court documents, Miller was a salesperson for Capital Investments. Capital Investments, Greater Miami Debentures and Great Miami Real Estate were three entities that duped victims into investing with them, claiming the investments were secure and backed by equity in real estate properties in Butler County, Ohio and in Florida. Many of the properties were not purchased or developed with investor monies and were owned by one of the conspirators, or the spouse or parent of a conspirator, and by November 2007 many of the properties lacked substantial equity, were in a state of disrepair, were in default, or were in some stage of foreclosure.

Miller or a co-conspirator sent a letter dated January 8, 2008 to one couple he had persuaded to invest with Capital Investments, representing that the investment was a “success” and continuing to be “an active player in the investment industry” providing “yields that are higher than those found elsewhere in the marketplace” when, in fact, by or before November 2007 all investors’ money was gone, with many of the properties which purported to back the victims’ investments in or approaching foreclosure.

In June, 2008, Miller tried to conceal his role in the investment scheme by falsely completing a questionnaire sent to victims by the Ohio Department of Commerce Division of Securities which was investigating the sale of the unregistered securities.

One of Miller’s co-conspirators, James D. Powell, 53, of Hamilton, pled guilty on June 28, 2010, to conspiracy and wire fraud and is awaiting sentencing.

Stewart commended the cooperative investigation by Postal Inspectors, FBI agents, and investigators with the Ohio Department of Commerce Division of Securities who investigated the case, and Senior Litigation Counsel Anne Porter, who prosecuted the case.

A Bethel Park man will spend 41 months in prison for his participation in a mortgage fraud scheme.

Michael Dokmanovich, 37, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in May.

According to the prosecution, Mr. Dokmanovich operated Brandy Financial Services Co. He was accused of submitting false loan documents, including overstating borrowers’ assets and income.

The conspiracy also involved getting falsified appraisals that overstated fair market values for properties and falsified closing documents.

Mr. Dokmanovich was one of three people charged in the conspiracy.

Real estate attorney John L. Chaffo, of Murrysville, was found guilty by a jury in July of multiple counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

He is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Donetta W. Ambrose on Nov. 1.

Another man, Bernardo Katz, a former large-scale property owner from Mt. Lebanon, returned to his native Brazil, and is charged in absentia with having defaulted on millions of dollars in mortgage loans.

A mortgage originator and a homebuilding executive, plus the modular home company he owned, have been indicted by a federal grand jury in Baltimore in connection with an alleged mortgage fraud scheme.

John S. Morrison IV, 55, of Columbia was indicted on two counts of mail fraud and Clifford M. Seibert, 57, of Berlin and Seibert’s company, Modular Homes Wholesaler of Berlin, were indicted on two counts of wire fraud, according to U.S. District Court records.

The indictments also seek forfeiture of $431,317 from Morrison and $363,808 from Seibert. The indictments, returned Thursday, were unsealed Monday.

Prosecutors say that in 2005, Morrison, mortgage originator, contracted to buy a building lot in Glen Rock Borough, Pa., just north of Baltimore County, for $74,900. Morrison received two documents from the owner disclosing significant problems with the steeply graded land, which would require “extensive soil and engineering work,” before it could be built on.

Morrison did not buy the property. Instead he arranged for it to be sold to an unidentified third party, but without disclosing the building problems, according to the indictment. The buyer wanted to build a modular home on the site.

Morrison and another person then prepared a $431,377 loan application to SunTrust Mortgage for the buyer, including false information about the applicant’s income, the indictment claims. Also, Morrison did not notify the appraiser of the land’s building problems. SunTrust, relying on the flawed appraisal and faulty income information, approved the loan.

The third party then purchased the land for $155,500, with Morrison pocketing $36,800 in the deal, according to prosecutors.

Meanwhile, Seibert arranged for the modular home to be built on the new owner’s property. However, despite receiving tens of thousands of dollars from SunTrust, Seibert “did little work, if any, to prepare the land for construction,” the indictment states.

As part of the scheme, Seibert “requested an advance payment of $18,575 for additional costs that would be incurred to meet the demands of the lot’s community development association, when in fact, the development association had made no such demands,” according to the indictment. SunTrust agreed to pay $16,675 of this request.

Morrison and Seibert each face up to 40 years in prison. Seibert pleaded not guilty Monday in U.S. District Court and was released on personal recognizance. Morrison was released on conditions, according to court records.

“We are mystified by the case,” said Seibert’s attorney, Joseph L. Evans of the Office of the Federal Public Defender in Baltimore.

“As we understand the case, as explained by prosecutors, it involves receiving draws prematurely, and then doing the work the draws were for,” Evans said. “The amount in question appears to be under $10,000. We are baffled as to why the U.S. government is pursuing this case.”

Morrison’s attorney, David F. Mister of Timonium, did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment.

Dallas’ 75201 ZIP code includes the snazzy Arts District, some of the city’s tallest skyscrapers and a chunk of fashionable Uptown.

The area is also ground zero for North Texas mortgage fraud.

From 2005 to 2009, more than 13 percent of the home mortgages made in 75201 turned out to be fraudulent, according to a study done for The Dallas Morning News by researchers at CoreLogic.

In most cases, the fraud came when folks buying pricey condos lied about their income or identity. Or investors claimed they were going to live in the units when they really had no such plans.

Either way, it was illegal. And surprisingly common.

Almost a quarter of the homes foreclosed across the country in recent years show evidence of loan fraud. Other common tactics have included lying about employment, hiding debts or faking assets.

Besides central Dallas, the other hot spots for home loan shenanigans that CoreLogic found include the Fair Park area (75210), sections of South Dallas (75203 and 75216), the Collin County suburb of Prosper (75078) and far southeast Dallas (75253).

It shouldn’t be surprising that a number of buyers of high-rise condos in Uptown and downtown fibbed about how much money they earned.

And a significant number of the luxury condo acquisitions were made by investors who never moved into the units.

For all the D-FW area, CoreLogic estimates that less than a quarter of a percent of the home loans made during the five-year period were fraudulent. That works out to about 22 cents for every $100 in loans.

Compare that with the national average of 0.55 percent, or 55 cents out of $100, and the D-FW area looks pretty good.

And it’s chicken feed compared with Orlando, Fla., Miami, Atlanta and Detroit, where the rate of mortgage shams was more than three times the national average.

No Texas cities made CoreLogic’s list of the top 20 U.S. locations for home loan fraud.

Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, California and Georgia were the highest-ranking states for fraudulent mortgages.

To come up with its nationwide report, CoreLogic analyzed representative data from 80 million loan applications made from 2005 through 2009.

Researchers for the California-based housing data firm say mortgage fraud peaked in 2007.

At that time, almost 27 percent of the loans made in Dallas’ 75201 ZIP code were crooked. That was also the peak of the local home market.

“Our 2010 fraud index indicates that mortgage fraud risk is on the decline,” said CoreLogic senior vice president Tim Grace. “But with an estimated $14 billion in fraud losses experienced in 2009 alone, fraud is still a major issue for the mortgage industry.

“While the industry has done good work, there is evidence that fraud patterns are changing and becoming increasingly better hidden.”

But those shady home loans are hard to hide when they eventually wind up on the courthouse steps at foreclosure auction.

Two 35-year-old loan processors from Pembroke Pines and Hollywood recruited a 33-year-old North Lauderdale man as a straw buyer in a $2.5 million mortgage fraud scheme, according to William Ferrer, U.S. District Attorney for Southern Florida. On August 18, the trio pleaded guilty to one count of making false statements on a HUD-1 Real Estate Settlement Form.

Ferrer said Tracey Balli, Justina Bryan and Delano McLennon, along with a fourth defendant from Jupiter, sought to enrich themselves by fraudulently causing real property in Fort Lauderdale, Jupiter, Cape Coral, and Royal Palm Beach, Florida, to be bought and sold through straw buyers who obtained high value mortgages.

Records filed with the court and statements made during the plea hearing show that in order to obtain mortgages on these properties, the defendants and other co-conspirators submitted fraudulent documents to various mortgage lenders across the United States. Based on these false documents, the mortgage lenders issued approximately $2,500,000 in loans to the defendants and their co-conspirators.

Sentencing has been scheduled for November 19, 2010 before U.S. District Judge Ursula Ungaro.

For the economy to ever have a chance at bouncing back, the issue of mortgage fraud should be addressed. With foreclosures happening left and right, different scams are coming to fore and it’s hurting the country’s chances of ever picking up from the economic slump.

Though mortgage fraud comes in different forms these days, the well-thought out plans always involve a limited liability company (LLC) or “straw buyer”.

The buyer assumes a fake identity or an identity of someone who allows his credit status to be used for a fee then purchases a home through money borrowed from mortgage lenders. The seller gets away with the cash and the buyer never makes payments on the mortgage. In the end, the lender loses.

When lenders lose in those kinds of fraud cases, the taxpayers also lose. With government support for the mortgage market, taxpayers are in turn paying to keep the housing industry afloat.

A recent example of the LLC-type of mortgage fraud is the Back of the Yards. A house on the 53rd block of South Wood Street sold for just $25,500 in January 2009. After getting $110,000 mortgage for repairs, the house went back on the market in June. The asking price is now $355,000.

Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago’s head Emilio Carrasquillo says the sale does not make sense. It can only be a clear case of fraud.

Though mortgage fraud may not entice as much hate and rage as rape or murder, it is equally as hateful. In 2009 alone, mortgage fraud has cost the nation a whooping $14billion – hampering whatever slow recovery the housing industry is currently having.

Though the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation is working on putting up more defenses, the number of foreclosures is just spawning new fraud schemes. According to Carasquillo, a few Back of the Yards houses were sold for $5,000 and $30,000 last year and then resold for $385,000. Fraudsters are clearly walking away with the cash and honest home buyers are having a hard time scouting for properties to buy.

A June 17 report by the FBI shows that fraud cases are going up. From 63,700 in 2008, the number rose 5% to 67,200 a year later. The number is three times more than it had been in 2005. And the first three months of 2010 showed that the number just might be increasing, with the fraud cases totaling 38,000.

Sharon Ormsby, who is the section chief of the FBI’s financial crimes section, says that despite the FBI’s actions, fraud numbers may just keep going up if foreclosures also increase.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; Henry Gutierrez, Postal Inspector in Charge, U.S. Postal Inspection Service; John V. Gillies, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Miami Field Office; and J. Thomas Cardwell, Commissioner, State of Florida Office of Financial Regulation, announced that defendant John Fisher, 35, of Jupiter, Florida, pled guilty this morning in federal court to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and to one count of substantive mail fraud.

Also pleading guilty today were defendants Tracey Balli, 35, of Pembroke Pines, Florida, Justina Bryan, 35, of Hollywood, Florida, and Delano McLennon, 33, of North Lauderdale, Florida. These defendants pled guilty to one count of making false statements on a HUD-1 Real Estate Settlement Form in connection with a mortgage fraud scheme. Sentencing has been scheduled for November 19, 2010 before U.S. District Judge Ursula Ungaro.

According to records filed with the court and statements made during the plea hearing, the defendants and other conspirators engaged in a scheme to enrich themselves by fraudulently causing real property in Fort Lauderdale, Jupiter, Cape Coral, and Royal Palm Beach, Florida, to be bought and sold through straw buyers who obtained high value mortgages based upon fraudulent mortgage loan applications.

A co-conspirator orchestrated the scheme, in which defendant John Fisher, a licensed mortgage broker, Tracey Balli and Justina Bryan, both loan processors, joined. Balli and Bryan, along with other conspirators, recruited straw buyers, including Delano McLennon, to join the scheme.

In order to obtain mortgages on these properties, the defendants and other co-conspirators submitted and caused to be submitted fraudulent documents to various mortgage lenders across the United States. Based on these false documents, the mortgage lenders issued approximately $2,500,000 in loans to the defendants and their co-conspirators.

“South Florida continues to be a hot spot for mortgage fraud,” said Special Agent in Charge John V. Gillies of the FBI Miami Division. “It affects all of us, making homes artificially overpriced and then eventually losing value through neglect. The housing industry is a key component of our economy and combating mortgage fraud will remain a top priority for the FBI.”

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the FBI, and the State of Florida Office of Financial Regulation. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Randy D. Katz and Jeffrey H. Kay.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The house on the 53rd block of South Wood Street in Chicago’s Back of the Yards doesn’t look like a $355,000 home. There is no front door and most of the windows are boarded up.

Public records show it sold in foreclosure for $25,500 in January 2009, then resold for $355,000 in October. In between, a $110,000 mortgage was taken out on the home, supposedly for renovations. This June, the property went back into foreclosure.

To Emilio Carrasquillo, head of the local office of non-profit lender Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago (NHS), the numbers don’t add up. He believes this is a case of mortgage fraud.

It may not make the blood boil like murder or rape, but mortgage fraud is a crime that cost an estimated $14 billion in 2009 and could be hampering an already fragile recovery in the housing market. The FBI has been fighting back, assembling its largest ever team to fight it. They have their work cut out for them, though, as a tsunami of foreclosures is making classic scams easier and spawning new ones to boot.

“There’s no way any property in this neighborhood should sell for that kind of money,” said Carrasquillo, standing outside the house on Wood Street in this poor, predominantly black area of Chicago’s South Side. “Even if it was in great condition.”

Carrasquillo has identified a number of properties in Back of the Yards that sold for between $5,000 and $30,000 last year and then came back on the market for up to $385,000. He said property prices are being artificially inflated, allowing fraudsters to walk away with vast profits and making it harder for honest local people to buy a home.

Mortgage fraud takes many forms, but a well-organized scam frequently involves a limited liability company (LLC) or a “straw buyer.” In this scheme, fraudsters use a fake identity or that of someone else who allows them to use their credit status in return for a fee. The seller pockets the money the buyer borrows from a lender to pay for the home. The buyer never makes a mortgage payment and the property goes into foreclosure.

In other words, the money simply disappears, leaving the lender with a large loss. Since the U.S. government is now backing much of the mortgage market in the absence of private investors, that means “taxpayers are ultimately on the hook for fraud,” said Ann Fulmer, vice president of business relations at fraud-prevention company Interthinx.

Back of the Yards was hit by fraud during the housing boom and Carrasquillo says the glut of foreclosures is now making it easier for scammers to pick up properties for a song and flip them for phenomenal profits.

Drug dealers and gang members have taken over abandoned houses, many adorned with spray-painted gang signs. Prior to touring the area, Carrasquillo attached two magnetic signs touting the NHS logos on his minivan’s doors to show he is not a police officer. He said he also prefers touring in the morning, as drug dealers and “gangbangers” tend not to be early risers.

“These properties are just going to sit there, boarded up, broken into and a magnet for crime,” he said. “And that makes our job of trying to stabilize this neighborhood so much harder.”

CRACKDOWN NETS MORE REPORTS OF FRAUD

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation said in a report released on June 17 that suspicious activity reports (SARs) related to mortgage fraud rose 5 percent in 2009 to around 67,200, up from 63,700 the year before. The number had tripled from 22,000 in 2005 and the number of SARs for the first three months of 2010 hit nearly 38,000.

“We don’t see the number declining while foreclosures remain so high,” said Sharon Ormsby, section chief of the FBI’s financial crimes section.

Robb Adkins, executive director of the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, is known as U.S. President Barack Obama’s financial fraud czar. He describes mortgage fraud as “pervasive” and fears it is exacerbating the nation’s real estate woes. “That, in turn, could act as an anchor on the economic recovery,” he said.

For the housing market to recover, potential homeowners need confidence in home prices and investors need confidence to get back into the secondary mortgage market, Adkins explained.

Since the subprime meltdown, a wide variety of scams have come to the fore. They include big cases like that of Lee Farkas, the former head of now bankrupt mortgage lender Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp, charged in June with fraud that led to billions of dollars of losses. The scheme involved the misappropriation of funds from multiple sources, including a lending facility that had received funding from Deutsche Bank and BNP Paribas.

That appears to be the scam of choice. On July 22, for instance, seven defendants were indicted in Chicago in a $35 million mortgage fraud scheme involving 120 properties from 2004 to 2008 using straw buyers. Of the half dozen properties listed in the indictment, two were in Back of the Yards.

In the mid-2000s, the availability of easy money, poor due diligence by lenders and low- or no-documentation loans, acted as a magnet for fraudsters, who used identity theft and other scams to bag large sums of cash.

“During the boom it was almost like people in the real estate market could do no wrong,” said Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray. “As ever more money rushed in, it attracted a lot of people who engaged in shady behavior.”

Instead of leaving them without a market, the crash has instead provided fraudsters with a glut of foreclosures, stricken borrowers and desperate lenders to take advantage of.

“There were plenty of opportunities for fraud on the way up and there are plenty on the way down,” said Clifford Rossi, a former chief credit officer at Citigroup and now a teaching fellow at the University of Maryland in College Park.

By Nick Carey

One of Franklin County’s largest mortgage-fraud cases went before a judge Monday.

NBC 4 reported with the FAST FACTS from Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien.

O’Brien said John Wanek of Phoenix, Ariz., pleaded guilty to engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity that led to more than $38 million worth of mortgage fraud in Franklin County.

In Monday’s hearing, John Wanek admitted to multiple counts of theft, falsification, money laundering and telecommunications fraud.

Prosecutors say, in 2002, Wanek provided Merrill Lynch false and inflated financial information and inflated occupancy information to fraudulently obtain loans totaling $15,500,000 for two apartment complexes in Franklin County: Colonial Village and Ashberry Village.

Between 2005 and 2006, Wanek orchestrated a similar fraud on another lender, CIBC, Inc., obtaining $23,100,000 in loans to acquire four more properties in Franklin County: Hamilton Arms, Olde Cape Colony, Woodcrest, and Greene Countrie, as well as a property in Indianapolis.

In order to determine the amount of loans to be made, both lenders relied upon the false financial and rental information to determine the value of the properties.

The prosecutor’s office says the false information caused the property values to be substantially overstated. Additionally, the lenders would not have gone through with the loans if they had known the information supplied to them was fraudulent.

Wanek also is accused of secretly diverting hundreds of thousands of dollars of loan proceeds to himself between 2006 and 2008.

At the same time, the prosecutor’s office says the properties were going into decline, contractors were not being paid for their work and materials, utilities were being shut off, and payroll checks for employees were bouncing. All of the properties have since gone into foreclosure.

Wanek was charged in March of 2009 in a 33-count indictment, and was set to begin his trial Monday, Aug. 16th. Instead, he entered a guilty plea for eight counts.

He was expected to be sentenced in a couple weeks and faces a maximum sentence exceeding 50 years.

By Lauren Schmoll

SACRAMENTO, CA—United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner, FBI Special Agent in Charge Drew S. Parenti, and IRS Special Agent in Charge Scott O’Briant announced that a federal grand jury in Sacramento returned an indictment on Thursday, charging eight persons in a real estate investment fraud scheme operated under the name of Heaven Investments. The following individuals are charged in the indictment:

* Akbar Bhamani, 56, of Carmichael, CEO, Heaven Investments
* Aly Khan Bhamani, 28, of Carmichael, Vice President, Heaven Investments
* Zainulabidin Akbar Bhamani, 30, of Sherman Oaks, Vice President, Heaven Investments
* Laila Bhamani, 57, of Tracy, Finance Department, Heaven Investments
* Feroza Bhamani, 55, of Carmichael, Finance Department, Heaven Investments
* Ken Sarna, 46, of Vallejo, Director of Operations, Heaven Investments
* John Pierre Quintana, 30, of Dixon, Director of Marketing, Heaven Investments
* Shaun Bhamani, 26, of Valencia, Loan Officer, Global Financial & Assets Inc.

The first seven defendants are charged with 15 counts of mail fraud and wire fraud in connection with the scheme to defraud investors of over $11.4 million through a company called Heaven Investments Holding Co. (HIHC). HIHC was a family-run real estate development company in Sacramento that offered investors two principal types of investments. The first was called the Planned Income Program that promised to use investor money to acquire residential single-family dwellings that would be renovated and resold for a profit. The second was the Tenants in Common program that promised to use investor money to develop four pieces of property known as Mission Manor, Alder Heights, Walnut Acres, and the Hegenberger Hotel. Investors were promised a 12 - 15 percent annual return.

According to the indictment, the defendants claimed that the investment was safe because it would be secured by a deed of trust on the property in which the investor would be in no worse than second or third position and that the indebtedness on the property would never exceed 70 percent of the value of the property. In fact, the indictment alleges, HIHC had acquired the properties through 100 percent financing from private lenders. Further, the defendants’ promise was illusory because either HIHC failed to actually place the investor on the deed as promised or on those occasions when HIHC did put an investor’s name on the deed, the property frequently had multiple investor names and was leveraged by as much 300 to 400 percent.

The indictment also charges that the defendants led investors to believe that HIHC was more efficient than other development companies of its kind because it had its own in-house architectural staff and construction company. As a consequence, the defendants would routinely make promises that a particular property such as Mission Manor or Alder Heights would be completed within a few months. In fact, HIHC did not have a team of architects or a construction company and, after nearly three years of soliciting investors’ money, HIHC had not moved beyond the permit stage on any of the TIC properties.

The indictment also alleges that HIHC operated like a Ponzi scheme in that the source of the funds used to make interest payments to investors was not from profits but rather from money obtained from new investors. Because of this, a recurring problem at HIHC was a scramble for money with which to pay investors. The defendants would use various devices to stall investors including intentionally failing to sign the check and telling the investor that the check had been lost in the mail.

The indictment charges that in an attempt to raise money for HIHC, three of the defendants—Zain Bhamani, Aly Bhamani and Shaun Bhamani—engaged in a separate mortgage fraud scheme. They are charged with eight counts of mail fraud in connection with that scheme. Zain Bhamani is alleged to have recruited two straw buyers to purchase eight properties owned by HIHC. Shaun Bhamani, who is a mortgage broker in Los Angeles and a cousin of Zain and Aly Bhamani, handled all the transactions. Seven of the eight properties involved in the scheme went into foreclosure resulting in losses to the lenders of approximately $775,000. The remaining property is currently in foreclosure. Zain Bhamani and Aly Bhamani are also charged with seven counts of money laundering.

The maximum statutory penalty for the indicted charges are as follows: 20 years for each count of wire fraud, 20 years for each count of mail fraud, and 20 years for each count of money laundering. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory sentencing factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

The charges are only allegations and each defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This case is the product of an investigation by the FBI and the IRS, Criminal Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney R. Steven Lapham is prosecuting the case.

This law enforcement action is part of the work being done by President Barack Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. President Obama established the interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force to wage an aggressive, coordinated, and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. The task force includes representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general, and state and local law enforcement who, working together, bring to bear a powerful array of criminal and civil enforcement resources. The task force is working to improve efforts across the federal executive branch, and with state and local partners, to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes, ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets, and recover proceeds for victims of financial crimes. One component of the FFETF is the national Securities Fraud Working Group, which is tasked with combating investment fraud schemes. For more information on the task force, visit StopFraud.gov.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Henry Gutierrez, Postal Inspector in Charge, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Michael K. Fithen, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Secret Service, and J. Thomas Cardwell, Commissioner, State of Florida Office of Financial Regulation announced that on Friday, August 6, 2010, a federal jury in Miami convicted Mayelin Salas, 36, of Miami Springs, and Lucy Segurola, 51, of Miami, for their participation in a mortgage fraud scheme that resulted in approximately $21 million in fraudulent loans. Salas and Segurola were found guilty of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. Salas was also found guilty of mail fraud.

According to the evidence presented at trial, Salas was an employee of State Mortgage Lending, a mortgage lending company in Doral, which was owned and operated by Magile Cruz. Cruz previously pled guilty and was sentenced in January 2009 to 120 months’ imprisonment for her participation in this scheme. Cruz’s other companies included Star Lending Mortgage, Sherley Title Services, Doral Title Services, and Professional Title Express, all in Miami-Dade County.

According to the trial evidence, in 2005, Salas participated in a double HUD scheme through which the defendants created and submitted to Fremont Investment and Loan, a lending institution, false duplicate HUD-Settlement Statement Forms, which grossly inflated the true *purchase price of a property that Salas was purchasing. Salas received a $5,000 payment from Cruz for her participation in the scheme.

The evidence at trial established that Lucy Segurola acted as a straw borrower on at least three loans totaling more than one million dollars. Segurola allowed her credit information to be used to apply for these loans knowing that she was not the true borrower and that Cruz would be making the monthly mortgage payments. The loan applications also included false employment verifications, pay stubs, income and funds on deposit, and IRS Forms W-2. Segurola was paid a total of $15,000 for her participation in the scheme.

The defendants face a maximum term of imprisonment of twenty years as well as fines and mandatory restitution. Sentencing has been scheduled for October 22, 2010.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the Federal-State Mortgage Fraud Strike Force, with special commendation to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, U.S. Secret Service, and the State of Florida Office of Financial Regulation.

HONOLULU, HI—Two indictments of 13 Oahu residents and one from the state of Washington on mortgage fraud related charges were unsealed today with the arrests of 10 of the 14 defendants. A federal grand jury had returned the indictments on August 11, 2010, but they had remained sealed until today. One indictment charged 10 defendants in 56 counts of conspiracy, wire fraud, and false statements on loan applications, while the other named four defendants in 33 counts of the same nature. The 14 named defendants are:

* ESTRELITA “ESTHER” GARO MIGUEL (58)
* JENNIFER GARIN MIGUEL (29)
* YOLIE CASTILLO TIBURCIO (36)
* VINAH CERIALES MORALES (45)
* GERALDINE GARIN MIGUEL LUKELA (33)
* TERESITA “TESSIE” FAELDONEA SORINO (33)
* MARY ANN LAPENIA (57)
* STEPHEN ELMER CALLO (59)
* FELICIDAD “FELICIA” TABALBAG CORPUZ (60) (Washington)
* ALBERT LONOIKAUAKINI JOY (45)
* ATLANTICA KAHAUNANI “NANI” TANUVASA (37)
* LENE TANUVASA, JR. (40)
* SAMANTHA MICHEL (37)
* MICHELLE LEE MALULANI KAMA (39)

Florence T. Nakakuni, United States Attorney for the District of Hawaii, said that according to the indictments, the purposes of the conspiracies and fraud schemes were to defraud lending institutions and others by submitting loan documents containing false information. The two indictments allege that certain defendants recruited individuals to apply for mortgage loans and to sign loan documents containing false representations, and that some defendants were loan officers who submitted fraudulent loan applications. In reliance on the false statements, the lending institutions funded the loans, and some of the defendants then distributed the loan proceeds, as well as collected their standard fees and commissions.

For the conspiracy count, the defendants face a maximum period of imprisonment of five years and a maximum fine of $250,000. For the wire fraud counts, the defendants face a maximum period of imprisonment of 20 years and a maximum fine of $250,000. For the false statement on loan application charges, the defendants face a maximum period of imprisonment of 30 years and a maximum fine of $1,000,000. Charges in an indictment are merely accusations, and each defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

At arraignments today, trial dates were set for October 13, 2010, for the 10 and four defendant cases before Chief United States District Judge Susan Oki Mollway and United States District Judge J. Michael Seabright, respectively.

The case resulted from an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation Division. The prosecution is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney Clare Connors.

MADISON, WI— John W. Vaudreuil, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Brian K. Bowling, 44, of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Barbara B. Crabb to 51 months in prison, with a five-year term of supervised release. Judge Crabb also ordered Bowling to pay $377,271 in restitution. Bowling was convicted of two counts of wire fraud on May 28, 2010.

Bowling pled guilty to engaging in a mortgage fraud scheme using his mortgage brokerage company called Platinum Concepts. Bowling defrauded banks and other mortgage lenders by submitting false loan applications to obtain home loans. The loan applications included inflated income amounts, exaggerated assets, falsified employment information, bogus down payments, and silent second mortgages. To date, five individuals have pleaded guilty to participating in this scheme.

At today’s sentencing, Judge Crabb told Bowling he engaged in very serious criminal conduct that affected a lot of people and involved over $1.7 million in intended losses. Judge Crabb expressed concern that despite Bowling having a good upbringing and all the advantages to succeed, he still engaged in criminal conduct to make more money and to build up his business and standing in the community.

These cases are part of President Barack Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. President Obama established the interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force to wage an aggressive, coordinated, and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. The task force includes representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general, and state and local law enforcement who, working together, bring to bear a powerful array of criminal and civil enforcement resources. The task force is working to improve efforts across the federal executive branch, and with state and local partners, to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes, ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets, and recover proceeds for victims of financial crimes.

The charges are the result of an investigation conducted by the Madison office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The prosecution of this case has been assigned to Assistant United States Attorney Dan Graber.