Flipping Frenzy.com is your source for news, information, and commentary on Real Estate and Mortgage Fraud. 
If you believe you have been a victim of real estate or mortgage fraud, start here! Select your state from the pulldown menu below:
Hudson man indicted in mortgage fraud case
A Hudson resident is among 16 individuals indicted in a mortgage fraud scheme involving 40 properties and losses of $12 million in Summit County.
Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray and Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh announced the indictments March 24.
The indictments were the culmination of a two-year investigation by the Summit County Mortgage Fraud Task Force, according to a press release from the county sheriff’s office, which operates the task force.
The individuals are alleged to have “committed mortgage fraud by inflating the values of the homes, falsifying mortgage loan applications and skimming money from mortgage proceeds at closing,” according to the press release.
Officials said the losses could be more than $12 million.
Shawn Anthony of Hudson was charged with three counts of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, first-degree felonies; two counts of theft, second-degree felonies; six counts of telecommunications fraud, fourth-degree felonies; six counts of falsification, fourth-degree felonies; six counts of money laundering, third-degree felonies; and two counts of securing writings by deception, fourth-degree felonies.
Contact information for Anthony or his attorney could not be found by press time.
Others indicted include: Todd Cerankowski, Tiffany Gibson, Paul Gosden, Nicki McManis, Anthony Ramsey, Frank Ruggiero, Leroy Steele and Hope Turner of Akron; Daniel Spahr and Sonora Turner of Cleveland; Andrea DeStefanis, Brian DeStefanis and Donna DeStefanis of Medina; John Scordos of Parma and Otelia Simmons of Uniontown.
Those individuals are facing a total of 138 charges, which include theft, telecommunications fraud, money laundering, engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, securing writings by deception and falsification.
The individuals represented eight companies: Dynasty 500, Inet Mortgage/T&N Financial, LES Investments/E Style Holdings/Regal Investments, P&B Investments/Renovator’s Unlimited, American Homebuyers, O.E. Simmons Realty, Skys the Limit and T.C. Appraisers.
Inspector Bill Holland of the Summit County Sheriff’s Department said the 16 are suspected of allegedly being involved with more than 100 properties “throughout greater Summit County.”
Because of a variety of reasons, only 40 were used in the indictments. Holland said the individuals have not been arrested and are awaiting a future court date, which has not been scheduled.
The cases will be prosecuted by the Ohio Attorney General’s Special Prosecutions Unit and the Summit County Prosecutor’s Office.
“This type of fraud wreaks havoc on our communities,” Cordray said in a press release. “The players in these kinds of schemes are willing to lie, cheat and steal with no regard to the damage they leave in their wake. Neighborhoods are stuck with boarded-up homes and lower property values, and municipalities and school districts suffer from the community’s deflated tax base.”
The Summit County Mortgage Fraud Task Force, which operates in conjunction with the Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission, is made up of officers from various Summit County and Ohio law enforcement agencies, including the Summit County Sheriff’s Department, Summit County Fiscal office, Akron Police Department, Cuyahoga Falls Police Department and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation.
Officials said they conducted about 96 interviews and issued more than 120 subpoenas to lending institutions, title companies, real estate agencies as well as other sources of information as part of the investigation.
A Ralph Roberts Site, Copyright 2005-2008 |