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Samoa Deports Fugitive Wanted in the U.S. in $50 Million Real Estate Fraud Scam
A former Los Angeles-based real estate developer charged with running a $50 million mortgage fraud scheme arrived in the United States yesterday afternoon to face criminal charges. Charles Fitzgerald was arrested and deported by authorities in the Independent State of Samoa, a Pacific island nation where he fled to in June 2003 after he was sued for fraud by Lehman Brothers Bank.
Samoan law enforcement officials, responding to a request from the United States, arrested the 46-year-old Fitzgerald in the Samoan capital of Apia on Monday. Fitzgerald was deported by Samoa because his United States passport had been revoked after the criminal charges were filed, which in turn subjected him to immediate deportation under Samoan law.
Fitzgerald arrived at Los Angeles International Airport yesterday afternoon, and was immediately transported to the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles. He is expected to make a court appearance in U.S. District Court this afternoon, where he’ll answer to charges of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and loan fraud, four counts of bank fraud, one count of loan fraud, five counts of money laundering, and one count of obstruction of justice. In addition to Fitzgerald, the following people were previously charged with working alongside the former real estate developer to defraud Lehman Brothers Bank:
- Mark Abrams, 45, of Long Beach, CA
- Nicole LaViolette, 37, of Palm Springs, CA
- Jamieson Matykowski, 33, of Laguna Niguel, CA
- Timothy Holland, 35, of Santa Ana, CA
Abrams previously pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and loan fraud, bank fraud, making a false statement on a tax return and obstruction of justice. LaViolette, Matykowski and Holland previously pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and loan fraud, as well as wire fraud. All four are scheduled to be sentenced next year by United States District Judge Dean D. Pregerson.
Fitzgerald and the others were involved in a wide-ranging and sophisticated conspiracy to defraud federally insured mortgage lenders out of tens of millions of dollars. As part of the scam, they obtained inflated mortgage loans on homes in some of California’s most exclusive neighborhoods, including Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Holmby Hills, Malibu, Carmel, Mill Valley, Pebble Beach and La Jolla. According to the recently unsealed charges, the conspiracy was spearheaded by Fitzgerald and Abrams.
In the charges filed against the others, in late-1999/early-2000, Fitzgerald went into business with Abrams in a mortgage brokering company called Desert Pacific Financial, Inc. (DPF). The company sent mortgage loan applications to lenders for review and funding, and received commissions from those lenders when the loans closed. In late 2001, Fitzgerald and Abrams renamed the company Beverly Hills Estates Funding, Inc. (BHEF).
LaViolette was a loan processor at DPF/BHEF, and Matykowski was a property scout who helped locate homes for potential purchase. Fitzgerald and Abrams also had several in-house escrow companies, in which Holland was the escrow officer.
Fitzgerald and Abrams, working with Matykowski and real estate agents, located homes for sale. According to court documents, they primarily looked for homes with purchase prices they could inflate, which generally meant they used homes with good views in expensive neighborhoods throughout California. As part of the scheme, Fitzgerald and Abrams purchased homes at their real market values. For example, the case against Abrams details the purchase of a home in Bel Air, which Fitzgerald and Abrams bought for $735,000 in the name of “Matykowski or his assignee,” even though they were at all times in actual control of the home.
Fitzgerald, Abrams and their associates then recruited straw borrowers to obtain inflated loans on the properties. The straw borrowers, some of whom received payments, allowed Fitzgerald and Abrams to use their names and credit to obtain mortgages as part of a property flipping process. After obtaining inflated appraisals and other false documents that were submitted with loan applications, Fitzgerald and Abrams obtained mortgages in the names of the straw borrowers for double or triple the actual values of the homes. For example, when they flipped the Bel Air property, they sold the residence to the straw borrower for $2,370,000. Abrams’ charges allege that a bogus loan application package went to Lehman Brothers Bank seeking a loan of $1,422,000, nearly double the true $735,000 purchase price, and that Lehman Brothers Bank unwittingly funded a loan of more than $1.4 million on the property, almost all of which ended up in one of the in-house escrow companies controlled by Fitzgerald and Abrams.
The victim lenders, having been deceived by the false documentation supplied by Fitzgerald, Abrams, and others, unwittingly funded the inflated loans. According to Abrams’ charges, Lehman Brothers Bank alone was deceived into funding about 80 such inflated loans from March 2000 through March 2003. These 80 loans were more than $50 million over the true prices of the homes. Fitzgerald and Abrams received millions of dollars of these excess loan proceeds, and their associates received kickbacks, inflated appraisal fees, and large commissions.
Lehman Brothers Bank sued Fitzgerald, Abrams and others in federal court in Los Angeles in 2003 and obtained a receivership, temporary restraining orders, and preliminary injunctions against them. If he is convicted of the 12 counts in the criminal complaint, Fitzgerald faces a possible sentence of 265 years in federal prison.
Filed under: Arrest, California, Mortgage Fraud, Real Estate Fraud
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I owe this guy a SERIOUS beat-down from when he used my friends’ dads’ name and literally almost ruined him. My friends’ dad had a severe heart attack because Mark Abrams defrauded him and my friends family back in 1989-1990. My friends’ dad trusted Mark and he drove my friends’ dad to almost ruins health wise. Listen up chump, if I ever find you Mark, I will, with my own bare hands rip your throat out and piss in your neck.
Comment by Mark Abrams Hater — April 4, 2007 @ 6:31 pm
Hey Mark, remember the white BMW you “sold” me? Remember me making payments to you that you never paid the lien holder to the car? Remember disappearing on me and sending my credit to the toilet because of this and the BMW you “sold” me was repossessed? I swear if I find you or if I find out where you are jailed, I will make sure the rest of your life is misrable. If I do find you before you go to jail, I will stuff every bill you left me with up your ass. You will pay for what you did to me and my family. I GUARANTEE that you crooked ass loser.
Comment by Mark Abrams Hater — April 5, 2007 @ 3:45 pm
Why aren’t these articles mentioning that Charles Elliott Fitzgerald fled the country when it was discovered that he had two wives, in two different states, each with children. He took his first wife and kids with him and abandoned his other wife and kid. I just can’t imagine how his first wife rationalized that this was all forgiveable.
Comment by Relative — April 17, 2007 @ 4:14 am
MARK ABRAMS IS A PRINCIPAL OF TITAN ORGANIZATION, INC. WHICH WAS FORMERLY CALLED RODMARK, INC. WHEN IT WAS FORMED IN 2006. NOW, AS TITAN, THEY CLOSED ESCROW IN OCTOBER, 2006 ON A 58,000 SQ. FT. PARCEL OF LAND ON THE CORNER OF OLYMPIC AND GRAND IN DOWNTOWN LA AFTER CONNING THE OWNER JIM MYRON INTO DOING A JOINT VENTURE DEAL WITH THEM.
MARK ABRAMS AND HIS WIFE PEGGY LIVE IN A RENTED HOUSE OFF SUNSET IN BEL AIR AREA WHICH HE RENTED WITHIN A WEEK OF SCAMMING INVESTORS LIKE SUSAN NORTON INTO INVESTING INTO HIS DEVELOPMENT DREAMS CALLED THE OLYMPIC AND CITY HOUSE ON THAT LAND.
THE OFFICE ADRESS FOR TITAN IS: 633 W. 5TH ST, 56TH FLOOR, LA, CA 90049
http://WWW.TITANORGANIZATION.COM
MARK ABRAMS’ CELL PHONE IS: 310-625-3939 AND HIS HOME NUMBER IS: 310-443-4292
PLEASE POST THE STORY OF HIS BEATDOWN!!!!!
Comment by Mark Abrams Hater 2 — August 13, 2007 @ 2:17 am
MARK ABRAMS is up to his old tricks, this time scamming people with his new company TITAN ORGANIZATION, located at: 633 W. 5th Street, 56th Floor, LA, CA 90049 http://www.titanorganization.com MARK ABRAMS is now a partner in that company which recently purchased the land on the corner of Olympic and Grand in Downtown LA under the name of The Olympic on Grand, LLC for $30 Million of SCAMMED MONEY!!!
MARK ABRAMS has been soliciting investments from investors to the tune of over $3M to date for his dream of building The Olympic and The City House buildings. Don’t let the fact that his name is not on any documents fool you….he OWNS his interest in the LLC under a TRUST he created just for the purpose to hide his ownership…THE JAMES GRACE IRREVOCABLE TRUST EFFECTIVE NOVEMBER 1, 2005 and the company just recently closed escrow on the land in October, 2006:
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/11-06-2006/0004468099&EDATE=
HOW IS HE NOT IN JAIL NOW? HOW IS HE ON THE STREET SCAMMING MORE PEOPLE? HOW CAN HE SELL SECURITIES/MEMBERSHIP IN AN LLC TO INVESTORS AFTER PLEADING GUILTY TO: CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT BANK FRAUD AND LOAN FRAUD, BANK FRAUD, MAKING A FALSE STATEMENT ON A TAX RETURN AND OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE???????
Comment by Mark Abrams Hater 2 — August 13, 2007 @ 3:45 am
Mark Abrams is a really likable guy, and that’s exactly how he can and will take your personal trust and kick you to the curb after he has worked you for everything he can get. And believe me, Abrams is a smart guy…sort of a gentle sociopath genius who can very quickly assess people and deals. The consummate sharpie, the guy is really a slick politician, and it’s no wonder that people fall for his game.
The weird thing is that he is so good at what he does he doesn’t need to rip anyone off, but he still does it anyway. He just doesn’t ever consider telling the truth. He may seem to mean well, or would secretly like to do it legit, but he is still just a fat Jewish kid who must not have been very well liked, and has compensated for this by royally bull******* himself and everyone else. Tragic for him, and really bad news for those who join up in good faith.
The guy is complete liar.
I don’t think he has any real friends. He says his best friend is Darren Star, the absurdly talented gay TV producer. I really doubt DS is that naive.
Frankly, I’d be embarrassed to admit to anyone that Mark Abrams is a friend. He has left a long trail of sad and angry people in his wake, and it is really astounding that he continues to get away with the s*** he pulls.
He and Elliot are straight con men of the highest order. Abrams current partner, the effete architect Rick Robertson, has an ego as huge as the lame NYC style buildings he wants to build…(they look dreary, like haunted federal court houses from the last century). But Abrams has an even bigger ego, only it is on stealth mode whenever he wants something from somebody, which is pretty much all the time.
It a real shame that Mark Abrams abuses so badly the real people that offer him friendship and business support. He is a nice enough guy that I’ve even stood up for him and talked some people out of really putting him out of commission for real. This is after he slammed me real good, and left me standing empty handed while lived like a prince on my friend’s money. It’s just not my karma to be the one who hurts this guy. But somebody will, you can bet on that, and if not on the streets, then in prison, which is were this guy will probably end up, despite his overt cooperation with the federal prosecutors.
Speaking of which, Abrams is currently partners with top attorney Nathan Hochman, who has had aspirations to higher office, and who is really risking his political currency by fronting for this dyed in the wool cad. NH had better convince Abrams to pay his debts to friends and those who have supported him in the past, or they will all go down together, and in very short order. The bad buzz is about to become deafening fellas, and unless you change you ways you can kiss you careers and your happy home life goodbye.
Comment by Some Who Knows The Truth — August 21, 2007 @ 4:33 pm
ANYONE INTERSTED IN HELPING SEE MARK ABRAMS, GARY WARFEL, AND THE TITAN ORGANIZATION GO TO JAIL, CALL OR WRITE TO THE COURT APPOINTED RECEIVER HANDLING THE MARK ABRAMS SENTENCING COMING UP AFTER HE PLEAD GUILTY TO FRAUD, CONSPIRACY, BANK FRAUD, AND OTHER CRIMINAL FEDERAL OFFENSES:
HE IS STANDING BY WAITING TO TALK TO YOU….
David J. Pasternak
Firm: Appleton, Pasternak & Pasternak, A Law Corporation
Address: 1875 Century Park East
Suite 2200
Los Angeles, CA 90067-2523
Map & Directions
Phone: (310) 553-1500
Fax: (310) 553-1540
Comment by Anonymous Titan Organization Hater — August 22, 2007 @ 4:03 am
Hi,
I was almost defrauded by Mark, and now i want to gather support from others in order to file a lawsuit against him.
If you, or anyone you know is familiar with his dealings at Titan, and the downtown development with James Myron, or his partner rick or richard richardson, or the loma vista llc and or the vineyard loan that he has, please get in touch with me.
This guy will be getting it good before he goes to prison.
send all the info to merlenm@yahoo.com
my name is mike merlen
Thanks
Comment by Joseph Melton — March 10, 2008 @ 2:23 pm