Hundreds of gold bars. Luxury cars. And cold, hard cash.

These were the spoils, federal officials say, of what appeared to be successful ventures involving Pedro Benevides and Daniel Fernandez Rojo Filho.

Between them, the Central Florida associates ran or were part of a series of area businesses — investment, real estate, aviation, car rental. What they really did, federal officials say, was participate in a Ponzi scheme that victimized thousands of people across the globe.

And, federal investigators say, the seized assets are part and parcel of a case that is just one example of an increased number of probes into suspected investment scams, taxing investigators and loading up cases for prosecutors of white-collar crimes.

“We are continuing to see a rise in Ponzi schemes, no doubt about it,” said Dave Nanz, chief of the Economic Crimes Unit for the FBI in Washington.

In Florida, the Attorney General’s Office has seen a nearly 175 percent increase in the number of investment-fraud-related complaints in the past five years.

And Friday, another case escalated. Grand-Am race-car driver Henri Zogaib of Longwood was arrested on one count of organized fraud.

Investigators said Zogaib, 36, stole about $5.1 million from 19 people who invested in his company, Executive Investment Group, by promising large returns on their money. They said he never invested the money but took it for his own use.

He was booked into the Lake County Jail on Friday with bail set at $100,000.

Ponzi schemes — or similar scams — have existed for decades. The name of the fraud itself is derived from Charles Ponzi, who in the 1920s tricked thousands of New England residents into investing in a postage-stamp-speculation scheme. He promised investors a 50 percent return in 90 days at a time when banks were giving 5 percent to account holders.

Ponzi used money from new investors to pay early investors their “profits.”

Today’s Ponzis are similar.

“The promoter is generally very charismatic and has some real-life experience with some type of legitimate investment product,” said Internal Revenue Service Special Agent Norm Meadows.

When investors want to pull their money out, Ponzi schemes collapse. And a lingering downturn in the U.S. economy explains why federal investigators see their case files stacking up.

“Bad economic conditions basically make the Ponzi scheme impossible to maintain,” said David P. Leibowitz, an attorney and board member of the National Association of Bankruptcy Trustees. “These Ponzi schemes have happened already. The Ponzi schemers have schemed. What we’re seeing now is the backwash of what was happening in 2007 and 2008.”

Benevides, 40, of Lake County and Filho, 42, of Orange County lived in style. And they appear to have been generous with their money: Filho bought his maid a Chevrolet Equinox, court documents say, which was also seized by the feds.

Court documents said Benevides and Filho participated in the operation of a company called Evolution Market Group.

From December 2007 to March 2009, Evolution Market Group — doing business as Finanzas Forex — operated several Web sites that boasted of short-term investments that yielded 77 percent to 300 percent returns, court documents show.

Evolution Market Group falsely represented on the Web that all funds would be invested in a European brokerage firm that specialized in buying and selling foreign currency, documents show.

Instead, prosecutors say, the company used most of the money to partially pay back early investors and to “reward” promoters of the company with money, luxury cars and housing allowances.

Tampa, FL – Craig Adams, orchestrator of one of the largest real estate fraud rings in Florida history, has secretly spent more than a year and a half as an FBI informant, helping build cases against the people he once recruited into his schemes, the Herald-Tribune has learned.

Federal court records show Adams has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy charges at a later date and has pledged his help in an attempt to earn leniency. In at least one instance, Adams wore a wire to record a conversation with a key business associate.

So far he has laid bare at least $200 million in fraudulent property deals, incriminated more than 30 of his former business partners and given the FBI enough evidence to arrest his longtime title agent, Lisa Rotolo, the court records show.

Adams’ role as informant is described in a federal criminal complaint related to Rotolo’s April arrest. Those documents, filed in U.S. District Court in Tampa, do not name Adams as the informant, referring to him only as the “confidential defendant” or “CD.”

Using descriptions of the defendant, particularly the mention of a relative in the court documents, the Herald-Tribune concluded that Adams was the informant. Lisa Rotolo’s husband, Jay, and others familiar with the investigation confirmed Adams’ identity this week.

David Oriente, a Sarasota investor who reported Adams to the FBI in March 2008, said he became irate when he learned two months ago that Adams might get a deal.

He said he complained to FBI officials who told him Adams had jeopardized his deal by not being completely honest.

“He didn’t say he was the ringleader,” Oriente said. “He blew the lid on the whole thing and underplayed his role. Now the FBI is finding out he is the man.”

Federal court records show Adams has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy charges at a later date and has pledged his help in an attempt to earn leniency. In at least one instance, Adams wore a wire to record a conversation with a key business associate.

So far he has laid bare at least $200 million in fraudulent property deals, incriminated more than 30 of his former business partners and given the FBI enough evidence to arrest his longtime title agent, Lisa Rotolo, the court records show.

Adams’ role as informant is described in a federal criminal complaint related to Rotolo’s April arrest. Those documents, filed in U.S. District Court in Tampa, do not name Adams as the informant, referring to him only as the “confidential defendant” or “CD.”

Using descriptions of the defendant, particularly the mention of a relative in the court documents, the Herald-Tribune concluded that Adams was the informant. Lisa Rotolo’s husband, Jay, and others familiar with the investigation confirmed Adams’ identity this week.

David Oriente, a Sarasota investor who reported Adams to the FBI in March 2008, said he became irate when he learned two months ago that Adams might get a deal.

He said he complained to FBI officials who told him Adams had jeopardized his deal by not being completely honest.

“He didn’t say he was the ringleader,” Oriente said. “He blew the lid on the whole thing and underplayed his role. Now the FBI is finding out he is the man.”

Rotolo, contacted at the Target store where she now works, would not comment. Adams did not respond to phone calls and e-mails.

Jay Rotolo told the Herald-Tribune his wife is also cooperating with what U.S. Attorney Brian Albritton’s office calls an ongoing investigation.

“My wife has been working with the FBI for a year now,” Jay Rotolo said. “Do you know what kind of a position this story puts her in? Yes, she got her finger in a mess, but we have never profited from any of this.”

The Rotolo complaint and supporting affidavit provide a glimpse into what could become the FBI’s largest mortgage fraud case in Florida.

Ultimately, dozens of Sarasota real estate investors could be caught up in the investigation. Adams’ list of associates includes mortgage brokers, Realtors, real estate appraisers, attorneys and developers.

During a conversation Adams allowed the FBI to secretly record, Rotolo predicted a wave of legal trouble for Adams’ business associates and for others who flipped property in Sarasota, the criminal complaint shows.

“I think that, you know, you’re gonna see 90 percent of the people in this town have a problem,” Rotolo said. “I don’t think there’s gonna be very many people that are gonna be unscathed by it.”

FAKE SET OF DOCUMENTS

The Herald-Tribune first exposed Adams and his network of property flippers in July as part of a yearlong investigation into real estate fraud. FBI officials would not confirm at the time that they were investigating Adams or his associates. In fact, federal agents and the U.S. Attorney’s Office suppressed information about Rotolo’s arrest and the investigation during interviews throughout 2009.

Federal court records show Adams has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy charges at a later date and has pledged his help in an attempt to earn leniency. In at least one instance, Adams wore a wire to record a conversation with a key business associate.

So far he has laid bare at least $200 million in fraudulent property deals, incriminated more than 30 of his former business partners and given the FBI enough evidence to arrest his longtime title agent, Lisa Rotolo, the court records show.

Adams’ role as informant is described in a federal criminal complaint related to Rotolo’s April arrest. Those documents, filed in U.S. District Court in Tampa, do not name Adams as the informant, referring to him only as the “confidential defendant” or “CD.”

Using descriptions of the defendant, particularly the mention of a relative in the court documents, the Herald-Tribune concluded that Adams was the informant. Lisa Rotolo’s husband, Jay, and others familiar with the investigation confirmed Adams’ identity this week.

David Oriente, a Sarasota investor who reported Adams to the FBI in March 2008, said he became irate when he learned two months ago that Adams might get a deal.

He said he complained to FBI officials who told him Adams had jeopardized his deal by not being completely honest.

“He didn’t say he was the ringleader,” Oriente said. “He blew the lid on the whole thing and underplayed his role. Now the FBI is finding out he is the man.”

Rotolo, contacted at the Target store where she now works, would not comment. Adams did not respond to phone calls and e-mails.

Jay Rotolo told the Herald-Tribune his wife is also cooperating with what U.S. Attorney Brian Albritton’s office calls an ongoing investigation.

“My wife has been working with the FBI for a year now,” Jay Rotolo said. “Do you know what kind of a position this story puts her in? Yes, she got her finger in a mess, but we have never profited from any of this.”

The Rotolo complaint and supporting affidavit provide a glimpse into what could become the FBI’s largest mortgage fraud case in Florida.

Ultimately, dozens of Sarasota real estate investors could be caught up in the investigation. Adams’ list of associates includes mortgage brokers, Realtors, real estate appraisers, attorneys and developers.

During a conversation Adams allowed the FBI to secretly record, Rotolo predicted a wave of legal trouble for Adams’ business associates and for others who flipped property in Sarasota, the criminal complaint shows.

“I think that, you know, you’re gonna see 90 percent of the people in this town have a problem,” Rotolo said. “I don’t think there’s gonna be very many people that are gonna be unscathed by it.”

FAKE SET OF DOCUMENTS

The Herald-Tribune first exposed Adams and his network of property flippers in July as part of a yearlong investigation into real estate fraud. FBI officials would not confirm at the time that they were investigating Adams or his associates. In fact, federal agents and the U.S. Attorney’s Office suppressed information about Rotolo’s arrest and the investigation during interviews throughout 2009.

“We did not discuss it because of the ongoing nature of the investigation,” said Steve Cole, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida. “I cannot comment further.”

Sarasota County Sheriff’s Detective Jeffrey Harris is also involved in the criminal investigation, but a spokeswoman for his agency referred questions to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The newspaper’s investigation revealed how Adams recruited friends, family members and business associates to trade houses back and forth for phony prices. With each sale, the price of the house was artificially increased, allowing buyers to qualify for oversized mortgages.

Sources familiar with the deals told the Herald-Tribune “profits” generated from the mortgages were split among those who participated in the sales.

The Herald-Tribune also revealed that Adams or his associates forged his aunt’s signature to obtain a loan, hid outstanding loans from banks in order to borrow more money and sold properties without repaying attached mortgages.

The criminal complaint against Rotolo describes similar schemes. It lays out how Rotolo and the confidential defendant worked together to artificially inflate home values and help buyers qualify for fraudulent mortgages.

Instead of selling houses on the open market, they used “friendly sellers” so they could inflate values and hide false statements.

When a friendly seller could not be found, Rotolo, Adams and others involved in the scheme would create a fake set of closing documents. One set would go to the seller and another would go to the bank in order to hide how money was manipulated, the complaint states.

In at least one case, Rotolo took loan money that was supposed to be used to repay previous mortgages and funneled it to Adams, the complaint states.

The documents list 37 addresses and related mortgages that Adams told the FBI were fraudulent. Using mortgage records filed with the clerk of court, the Herald-Tribune determined the names of those involved.

About half of those implicated by Adams were previously named in the Herald-Tribune’s flipping series this summer. The rest were additional Adams associates, meaning Adams’ group is nearly twice as large as the Herald-Tribune originally reported.

A review of all of those names shows that the people Adams regularly used for real estate deals have defaulted on more than $123 million in mortgage loans in recent years.

Rotolo’s arrest documents describe in detail the real estate transactions on the house at 1636 Baywood Way in Sarasota.

Using his 80-year-old mother, Jocelyn Adams, as a straw buyer, Adams bought the house in March 2005 and began borrowing more money than his mother’s income could justify, the criminal complaint states.

Although Jocelyn Adams’ name is on the deed, Craig Adams and an unnamed investor retained ownership, the complaint says.

They inflated the original purchase price from $1.65 million to $1.85 million and kept the excess proceeds from the mortgages obtained in Jocelyn Adams’ name.

Federal court records show Adams has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy charges at a later date and has pledged his help in an attempt to earn leniency. In at least one instance, Adams wore a wire to record a conversation with a key business associate.

So far he has laid bare at least $200 million in fraudulent property deals, incriminated more than 30 of his former business partners and given the FBI enough evidence to arrest his longtime title agent, Lisa Rotolo, the court records show.

Adams’ role as informant is described in a federal criminal complaint related to Rotolo’s April arrest. Those documents, filed in U.S. District Court in Tampa, do not name Adams as the informant, referring to him only as the “confidential defendant” or “CD.”

Using descriptions of the defendant, particularly the mention of a relative in the court documents, the Herald-Tribune concluded that Adams was the informant. Lisa Rotolo’s husband, Jay, and others familiar with the investigation confirmed Adams’ identity this week.

David Oriente, a Sarasota investor who reported Adams to the FBI in March 2008, said he became irate when he learned two months ago that Adams might get a deal.

He said he complained to FBI officials who told him Adams had jeopardized his deal by not being completely honest.

“He didn’t say he was the ringleader,” Oriente said. “He blew the lid on the whole thing and underplayed his role. Now the FBI is finding out he is the man.”

Rotolo, contacted at the Target store where she now works, would not comment. Adams did not respond to phone calls and e-mails.

Jay Rotolo told the Herald-Tribune his wife is also cooperating with what U.S. Attorney Brian Albritton’s office calls an ongoing investigation.

“My wife has been working with the FBI for a year now,” Jay Rotolo said. “Do you know what kind of a position this story puts her in? Yes, she got her finger in a mess, but we have never profited from any of this.”

The Rotolo complaint and supporting affidavit provide a glimpse into what could become the FBI’s largest mortgage fraud case in Florida.

Ultimately, dozens of Sarasota real estate investors could be caught up in the investigation. Adams’ list of associates includes mortgage brokers, Realtors, real estate appraisers, attorneys and developers.

During a conversation Adams allowed the FBI to secretly record, Rotolo predicted a wave of legal trouble for Adams’ business associates and for others who flipped property in Sarasota, the criminal complaint shows.

“I think that, you know, you’re gonna see 90 percent of the people in this town have a problem,” Rotolo said. “I don’t think there’s gonna be very many people that are gonna be unscathed by it.”

FAKE SET OF DOCUMENTS

The Herald-Tribune first exposed Adams and his network of property flippers in July as part of a yearlong investigation into real estate fraud. FBI officials would not confirm at the time that they were investigating Adams or his associates. In fact, federal agents and the U.S. Attorney’s Office suppressed information about Rotolo’s arrest and the investigation during interviews throughout 2009.

“We did not discuss it because of the ongoing nature of the investigation,” said Steve Cole, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida. “I cannot comment further.”

Sarasota County Sheriff’s Detective Jeffrey Harris is also involved in the criminal investigation, but a spokeswoman for his agency referred questions to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The newspaper’s investigation revealed how Adams recruited friends, family members and business associates to trade houses back and forth for phony prices. With each sale, the price of the house was artificially increased, allowing buyers to qualify for oversized mortgages.

Sources familiar with the deals told the Herald-Tribune “profits” generated from the mortgages were split among those who participated in the sales.

The Herald-Tribune also revealed that Adams or his associates forged his aunt’s signature to obtain a loan, hid outstanding loans from banks in order to borrow more money and sold properties without repaying attached mortgages.

The criminal complaint against Rotolo describes similar schemes. It lays out how Rotolo and the confidential defendant worked together to artificially inflate home values and help buyers qualify for fraudulent mortgages.

Instead of selling houses on the open market, they used “friendly sellers” so they could inflate values and hide false statements.

When a friendly seller could not be found, Rotolo, Adams and others involved in the scheme would create a fake set of closing documents. One set would go to the seller and another would go to the bank in order to hide how money was manipulated, the complaint states.

In at least one case, Rotolo took loan money that was supposed to be used to repay previous mortgages and funneled it to Adams, the complaint states.

MANY MORE INVOLVED

Several of Adams’ business associates, contacted by the Herald-Tribune this week, were shocked to learn that Adams was cooperating with federal investigators.

When informed by phone, Adams’ associate Heather Kabobel began crying. “I feel sick to my stomach,” she said.

Kabobel, a Sarasota real estate appraiser, is one of more than 30 people Adams implicated as a participant in real estate fraud, the Rotolo criminal complaint shows. Her husband, Jonathan Glucker, a mortgage broker with Prospect Mortgage, also appears on loan documents that Adams said were fraudulent, the complaint shows. Glucker did not return phone calls.

The documents list 37 addresses and related mortgages that Adams told the FBI were fraudulent. Using mortgage records filed with the clerk of court, the Herald-Tribune determined the names of those involved.

About half of those implicated by Adams were previously named in the Herald-Tribune’s flipping series this summer. The rest were additional Adams associates, meaning Adams’ group is nearly twice as large as the Herald-Tribune originally reported.

A review of all of those names shows that the people Adams regularly used for real estate deals have defaulted on more than $123 million in mortgage loans in recent years.

Rotolo’s arrest documents describe in detail the real estate transactions on the house at 1636 Baywood Way in Sarasota.

Using his 80-year-old mother, Jocelyn Adams, as a straw buyer, Adams bought the house in March 2005 and began borrowing more money than his mother’s income could justify, the criminal complaint states.

Although Jocelyn Adams’ name is on the deed, Craig Adams and an unnamed investor retained ownership, the complaint says.

They inflated the original purchase price from $1.65 million to $1.85 million and kept the excess proceeds from the mortgages obtained in Jocelyn Adams’ name.

Rotolo played a key role in the fraud, according to the criminal complaint against her. It says she prepared two sets of closing documents — one for the unwitting sellers and another for the bank that provided a loan on the inflated value.

Rotolo prepared the legal documents for several more loans on the property over the years, the complaint says. In most of the paperwork, Adams forged his mother’s signature and Rotolo notarized it, the complaint shows.

APPROACHING THE FBI

The criminal complaint filed by investigators against Rotolo does not explain what led Adams to turn FBI informant.

The documents show that in May 2008, a Tampa attorney contacted the FBI’s Sarasota office and expressed “his client’s desire to provide information to law enforcement about his and other individuals’ involvement in wide spread (sic) mortgage fraud in Sarasota, Florida.”

The informant agreed in principle to plead guilty to criminal conspiracy on condition that prosecutors not pursue any additional charges. Federal sentencing guidelines show criminal conspiracy carries a sentence of up to five years.

At the time Adams approached the FBI in 2008, his real estate career had come crashing down, with at least six of his multimillion-dollar properties falling into foreclosure. In April that year, Oriente, a business associate who had lent Adams $700,000, sued Adams and went to police and FBI agents, hoping to spark a mortgage fraud investigation.

Oriente said he thought the case had stalled until two months ago, when he learned about Rotolo’s arrest and read the court documents mentioning a confidential defendant.

Jeffrey H. Sloman, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; John V. Gillies, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Miami Field Office; and C. Ed Slagle, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Office of Inspector General, Southeast Region, announced the January 26, 2010 unsealing of an Indictment charging Yamil L. Herrera, 38, of Miami; Alain C. Hernandez, 41, of Miami; Ricelda M. Hernandez, 44, of Miami; Maria G. Herrera, 40, of Miami; Ana G. Blanco, 35, of Hialeah; Samantha Portales, 43, of Miami; Edel Martinez, 37, of Miami; Osiris Garcia, 41, of Miami; Luis R. Martinez, 42, of Hialeah; and Silvio De Paz, 46, of Miami, with one count of conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349, 11 counts of substantive wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343, and five counts of substantive bank fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1344.

Through this scheme, the defendants are alleged to have defrauded three financial institutions of more than $24 million in loan proceeds. If convicted, the defendants face a maximum statutory sentence of 30 years’ imprisonment for the conspiracy and bank fraud counts, and 20 years’ imprisonment for the wire fraud counts.

More specifically, the Indictment alleges that the defendants were involved in the financing of six residential properties in Miami-Dade County. According to the Indictment, Yamil L. Herrera, Alain C. Hernandez, and Ricelda Hernandez would identify properties that could be used to defraud lenders and then recruited friends and family to pose as purchasers of the properties. In addition, through a mortgage brokerage company called “Miami Dade Mortgage Professionals,” Alain C. Hernandez, a licensed mortgage broker, and Ricelda M. Hernandez would prepare loan applications that contained fraudulent statements about the purchasers’ employment, assets and intention to live in the properties. Ricelda M. Hernandez was also acting as a real estate agent.

Among the defendants who acted as straw purchasers for the properties were Maria G. Herrera, Samantha Portales, Edel Martinez, Osiris Garcia, Luis R. Martinez, and Silvio De Paz. The defendants conducted all of the real estate closings at Ana G. Blanco’s Trinity Closing Group. Since the defendants were often re-selling or “flipping” the properties among themselves, Blanco would disburse the money owed to the seller before the closing, and the seller would transfer the money to the defendant who was purchasing a property, so that money could be used as a ‘down payment.’ Once the property was purchased, the defendants allegedly arranged to make the mortgage payments until they could flip the property at an inflated purchase price. With the profits made from “flipping” the properties to each other, the defendants continued to buy additional properties and pay outstanding mortgage payments during the scheme. Eventually, the defendants ran out of money, stopped making the loan payments and the properties went into foreclosure. The foreclosures resulted in more than $7 million in losses to Washington Mutual, Impac Lending Group, Loan City and other lenders.

Brandon Foley, an owner of Smart Choice Realty, has agreed to plead guilty in a mortgage fraud conspiracy, operating what prosecutors call a “builder kickback” scheme in Mecklenburg County.

The Charlotte real estate agent, served as an agent for deals in which a builder “agreed to pay hidden kickbacks to buyers and promoters who recruited buyers,” according to court documents filed Monday. He was involved in the fraud ring for more than two years, starting about September 2005, documents say.

Foley is charged with one count of mortgage fraud conspiracy. He faces up to five years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000. He declined to comment saying his attorney advised him not to discuss his case. A date in January 2010 is yet to determined for his plea to be heard.

The conspiracy generally involved an unidentified builder that had “numerous houses that were not selling at the desired price,” according to court papers. To stimulate sales, “Builder A” agreed to pay kickbacks, which were not listed on closing documents.

As the real estate agent, Foley “facilitated the hidden kickbacks,” the documents say.

Prosecutors say Foley’s case is not related to the “Waxhouse Investigation,” a mortgage fraud case in which 12 people have agreed to plead guilty since last year.

However, there are similarities, based on filings in the cases. For example, in both, participants lied to get mortgages, including misrepresenting buyers’ income, place of employment and intent to occupy the house as a primary residence.

In the Foley case, conspirators also used false identification, such as fake Social Security numbers, the filing says.

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Former Real Estate Investor Comes Up with the Short Straw in Mortgage Fraud Scheme

Kevin M. Lafavers of LaGrange, Ky. faces sentencing Feb. 2 in the case. He pleaded guilty to wire fraud.

A former real estate investor, Lafavers pleaded guilty to federal charges that he set up straw deals to obtain inflated mortgages on more than 100 Indianapolis houses has been sentenced to prison.

Forty-four-year-old Robert A. Penn of Naples, Fla. also was ordered Monday to pay more than $11 million in restitution. He earlier pleaded guilty to charges of wire fraud and admitted to money laundering conspiracy.

The former Indianapolis residents were indicted in July on charges that from 2003 to 2005 they bought many of the homes for $120,000. Those were later seized by lenders and resold at sheriff’s sales for $3,500 to $26,000.

According to a January 4, 2010 Bloomberg Report, Bradley Birkenfeld, was a key informant in a U.S. investigation of offshore tax evasion aided by US Bancorp (UBS). On Jan. 8, Birkenfeld reported to prison for a 40-month prison term as ordered by U.S. District Judge William Zloch in federal court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

“I gave them the biggest tax fraud case in the world,” said the 44-year old Birkenfeld. “I exposed 19,000 international criminals. And I’m going to jail for that?”

Birkenfeld, a former banker with USB AG, pleaded guilty in 2008 to helping California billionaire Igor Olenicoff and hundreds of others evade taxes. Before his sentencing, Birkenfeld cooperated with the Justice Department, a U.S. Senate investigation and the Internal Revenue Service probe of the Zurich-based financial giant, detailing how UBS helped Olenicoff and other rich Americans evade taxes.

Birkenfeld, a former UBS banker, sought a postponement of the term imposed Aug. 21 by, and a new hearing to seek a shorter sentence. He promised to continue cooperating with prosecutors. Zloch denied the request in a one-page order.

“It’s a setback for whistleblowers everywhere,” said Birkenfeld attorney Stephen Kohn, executive director of the National Whistleblowers Center in Washington. “It just undermines the public interest that thousands of major tax cheats all escape any prosecution, and the one person who turned it in gets the longest sentence.”

In February 2009 the court ordered USB to pay $780 million in fines and to hand over data on 250 accounts to avoid prosecution. It agreed in August to turn over data on another 4,450 clients sought by the IRS.

At Birkenfeld’s sentencing on Aug. 21, 2009 the DOJ prosecutor, Kevin Downing stated that the U.S. couldn’t have unraveled the bank’s “massive tax fraud scheme” without his help. Prosecutor Downing recommended a minimum sentence of 30-months for Birkenfeld, since he wasn’t initially truthful about his dealings with Olenicoff.

In an interview on CBS’s “60 Minutes,” Birkenfeld said he didn’t deserve to go to jail when other bankers and clients haven’t. Birkenfeld also seeks a reward from the IRS of up to 30 percent of the taxes collected based on his information.

Olenicoff, who pleaded guilty in 2007 to filing a false tax return, got two years probation and paid $52 million in back taxes, fines and penalties. Last year, six former UBS clients pleaded guilty. While one got 12 months house arrest, none was sentenced to more than three months in prison.

Birkenfeld, who is under house arrest with electronic monitoring in Massachusetts, filed a motion Dec. 26 seeking a delay in his prison term and a hearing on a reduced sentence.

In that motion, Birkenfeld’s lawyers said he has been “ready, willing and able” to provide continued assistance to the government, and prosecutors had not taken him up on the offer.

In the four months after his sentencing, “the government has neither met with Mr. Birkenfeld nor asked him a single question about UBS, Swiss private banking, or any of Mr. Birkenfeld’s former U.S. clients.” His lawyer also spoke once to U.S. authorities on Dec. 14 about Birkenfeld’s former UBS clients, according to the filing.

In a Dec. 7 letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Kohn also said that his client told the Senate, the IRS and the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2007 about Olenicoff. “There clearly was a breakdown in communication between DOJ and Mr. Birkenfeld,” Kohn wrote. “There also appears to have been a breakdown in the cooperation and information sharing between various government entities.”

Birkenfeld was indicted with a Liechtenstein investment adviser, Mario Staggl, who was declared a fugitive. Two former UBS bankers, Raoul Weil and Hansreudi Schumacher, and a Swiss lawyer, Matthias Rickenbach, also were indicted in the U.S. and declared fugitives.

Just When You Thought it was Safe to go into the Water

This is not a follow-up story about hurricane Katrina.

One out every three home owners today in America is drowning.  According to Mark Fleming, chief economist for First American CoreLogic, more than 15.2 million U.S. mortgages, or 32.2% of all mortgaged properties, were in a negative-equity position on June 30, edging down from 32.5% at the end of March, according to the real-estate information company, which tracks data on about 90% of mortgage loans nationwide.

The combined total property value for loans in 2008 in a negative-equity position was $3.4 trillion, according to the report.  Negative equity can occur because of a decline in property value, an increase in mortgage debt or a combination of both. Equity levels are important to people who can’t make their mortgage payment since it affects their ability to sell or refinance.

“The slight drop from 2008 to the figures of 2009’s first 2 quarters in the portion of under-water loans reflects the recent flattening of home price changes, which is “great news” for the housing market as negative equity has been increasing for a number of periods,” Fleming said.

Still, he stressed that this decrease is a quarterly comparison and not the yearly comparison typically used in house prices.

Negative equity is a strong driver of foreclosures, Fleming said, and the stunted growth rate in the second quarter is a positive sign that foreclosures may moderate in the future. First American CoreLogic made “very crude” estimates that the foreclosure rate will peak a bit higher than 4% in early 2010, he said.

Is there Regional competition to be in Second Place?

According to business columnists in Arizona and Florida, they both report that their state has the number two spot sewn up for the most homes under water with negative-equity mortgages.

According to Jan Bucholz of the Phoenix Business Journal, her headline read:

“Arizona second in underwater loans”

On the other coast of the United States, the South Florida Business Journal with a statistical quote from CoreLogic posts the following headline:

“Florida No. 2 in mortgages under water”

For the sake of preventing another Civil War, let’s call it a tie.  We’ll look at the raw figures in a moment.  For right now, here is a look at what everyone agrees on:

The number one state leading the country in under water (negative-equity) mortgages is Nevada where 65 percent of homeowners have negative equity in their homes. (I still am quoting data from First American CoreLogic, based in Santa Ana, Calif.)

The percentage difference between the two states “coveting” the number two position, Arizona and Florida, is a fraction between 49% and 48% respectively.

Fourth on the list of under water mortgages is Michigan with California rounding out the top five.

Can anyone say:  Tsunami?

Nationwide, we have one-third of all mortgages in an “under water” position with a total property value for loans at $3.4 trillion. California led states with $969 billion, followed by Florida with $432 billion, New Jersey and Illinois each with $146 billion and Arizona with $140 billion.

Looked at by city, Los Angeles topped the list with more than $310 billion of total property value under water, followed by New York with $183 billion, Miami with $152 billion, Washington with $149 billion and Chicago with $134 billion, according to CoreLogic.

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R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Michael Fithen, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Secret Service, Miami Field Office, Daniel W. Auer, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, Duncan Foster, Chief of Police, Coral Springs Police Department, and Sheriff Al Lamberti, Broward Sheriff’s Office, announced that Peter Affatati, 39, of Coral Springs, FL, was sentenced to 13 years in prison in federal court in West Palm Beach for his role in a multi-million dollar mortgage fraud scheme. Affatati was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $8.8 million.

Specifically, Peter Affatati was charged with and pled guilty to orchestrating a $40 million mortgage fraud scheme that involved more than 50 residential mortgages, most of them in South Florida. Affatati used nominee purchasers/straw buyers to purchase the homes, then used his company, Assurance Title, to falsify the straw buyers’ employment, income, and asset information to qualify them for large mortgages from institutional lenders.

Upon the funding of the mortgage, Affatati diverted a large portion of the proceeds for his personal benefit.

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The State of Florida unveiled a new website today designed to help homeowners avoid real estate and mortgage fraud-related scams. The website, Florida Mortgage Fraud, provides homeowners and their loved ones with access to current investigations, complaint forms, and tips to identify and avoid a number of different types of real estate and mortgage fraud, including foreclosure rescue fraud.

“Companies and individuals are taking advantage of our homeowners in these tough economic times by preying on their financial situations,” said Florida’s Attorney General, Bill McCollum, in announcing the launch of the website. “If we can increase consumer education and empower people to spot scams and avoid them in advance, we can help decrease the number of victims targeted by this fraud.”

Homeowners can use the site to obtain information about active litigation involving companies the State of Florida has taken action against and can download affidavit forms to fill out if they feel they have been victimized by one of the companies on the list. You can also use the site to access a list of investigations being conducted by the Attorney General’s Mortgage Fraud Task Force to see if a particular company is currently being scrutinized.

The website also features answers to frequently asked questions about real estate and mortgage fraud, consumer tips, and a list of warning signs that a company or an individual might be engaging in foreclosure rescue fraud. Additional resources are also available, including a link to a new Florida Bar website containing information for attorneys and consumers on legal training, housing help workshops and clinics being held in Florida, and information concerning the Florida Bar Lawyer Referral Service and qualified legal aid agencies throughout Florida.

In 2007, Florida’s Attorney General initiated an agency-wide Mortgage Fraud Task Force to address the issues of mortgage and foreclosure rescue fraud. Since then, the Task Force has filed six lawsuits, has settled with seven companies, and is actively investigating more than 50 additional companies under the Foreclosure Rescue Fraud Prevention Act, which took effect October 1, 2008. The Task Force has also reviewed information pertaining to the business practices of more than 200 foreclosure rescue businesses.

Image by Getty Images via DaylifeThe U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida (R. Alexander Acosta), and the FBI announced late last week that Steven Gordon, 49, of Miami, Florida, pled guilty to wire fraud charges related to a five-year scheme to inflate the value of mortgage loans to increase his commission compensation. Steven Gordon’s sentencing has been scheduled for April 23, 2009.

Prior to his dismissal in 2006, Gordon was a principal at Bayview Financial, LP, a Coral Gables, Florida-based finance company that buys portfolios of loans from lending institutions. Bayview Financial pooled these loans into newly formed business entities, called “special purpose entities,” and then issued securities backed by those loans to the investing public. During 2006, 2005 and 2004, respectively, Bayview Financial and its affiliates securitized approximately $2.056 billion, $0.954 billion and $1.428 billion, in offerings of residential and commercial mortgage loans, including $1.989 billion, $0.884 billion and $1.243 billion of residential mortgage loans.

While employed at Bayview Financial, Gordon held the title of Director of Residential Acquisitions. One of Steven Gordon’s primary duties was to negotiate the purchase of thousands of loans for Bayview Financial’s residential mortgage securitization program. Gordon’s incentive compensation was based, in part, on his ability to buy those loans at a low cost.

Late last week, Gordon admitted that between 2001 and 2006, he engaged in a scheme to defraud Bayview Financial, in which he regularly altered credit information affecting the value of more than 2,800 loans acquired for Bayview Financial’s residential mortgage securitization program. Gordon’s fraudulent scheme caused Bayview Financial to pay him more than $2.8 million in excessive and undeserved bonuses.

Reported incidents of real estate and mortgage fraud in the U.S. increased by 45% on fewer loan applications in the second quarter of 2008 from a year ago, according to a report released today by the Mortgage Asset Research Institute (MARI). The MARI Quarterly Fraud Report is based on data submitted by MARI subscribers on loans originated in the second quarter of this year that have since been classified as fraudulent.

Key findings from the report include:

• Fraud most often occurs at the beginning of the loan process. More than 65% of fraud incidents are attributed to “General Application Misrepresentation,” a trend that has continued over the past two quarters. General Application Misrepresentation occurs when information such as a name, occupancy or assets is incorrectly stated during the application process.
• Income misrepresentation on loan applications rose 5% during the second quarter of 2008 versus the first quarter of 2008.
• Asset and debt misrepresentation on the loan application rose 7% during the second quarter of 2008 versus the first quarter of 2008.
• Tax return and financial statement misrepresentation rose 4% during the second quarter of 2008 versus the first quarter of 2008.
• Verification of deposit and bank statement misrepresentation rose 3% during the second quarter of 2008 versus the first quarter of 2008.
• Appraisal misrepresentation climbed to 21% for an overall increase of 6% during the second quarter of 2008 versus the first quarter of 2008.
• Florida, California, and Illinois compose the top three states for reported incidents of fraud. Florida saw a 5% increase in General Application Misrepresentation in the second quarter, while California saw a 20% decrease. Illinois recorded the highest percentages of income and employment misrepresentation on loan applications.

As was the case for the first quarter of 2008, Florida tops the list with the most reported loans with misrepresentation in the second quarter. Twenty-one percent (21%) of reports for loans originated during this time period were for properties in Florida. California ranks second, with 15% of loans reported; and Illinois rounds out the top three with 12% of all loans reported.

California REALTOR® Jose Oliva Sentenced for Real Estate Fraud: A real estate agent from Fontana, Calif., who was arrested in July of this year on felony charges connected to real estate fraud, has finally been sentenced… to six (6) months in jail followed by three (3) years probation.

John Matouk pleads guilty in Michigan of quitclaim deed fraud: According to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office, in February 2004, Matouk, who owned half a property in the 1100 block of Telegraph in Dearborn, forged a quitclaim deed from an elderly couple that transferred the entire property to his company, LM Investments of Dearborn LLC. Before his sentencing last week, Matouk was ordered to pay $26,000 in real estate taxes, the outstanding balance on a $650,000 loan, and court and probation costs. Because of his plea, Matouk received a sentence of two (2) years’ probation.

Rockland County, New York, task force targets mortgage fraud: Rockland County, NY, officials are trying to fight the worsening mortgage fraud problem by forming a Real Estate Fraud Investigation Task Force. The task force, a joint effort of Rockland District Attorney, County Clerk and County Sheriff, will investigate and prosecute cases involving recorded real estate documents, with an emphasis on instances in which the victim’s home is at risk of foreclosure.

U.S. Attorney charges Missouri mortgage brokers with cash-back-at-closing fraud: John F. Wood, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that several mortgage brokers are among six Missouri residents indicted by a federal grand jury last week for participating in several related mortgage fraud schemes. Charles M. Davis, 34, of Rogersville, Mo., Cheryl Joan Kassebaum, 42, and her husband, Scott Allen Kassebaum, 42, both of Ozark, Mo., Randall Lee Hall, 59, and Shanda Lynn Moore, 44, both of Springfield, Mo., and Steven Ray Spencer, 47, of Carl Junction, Mo., were charged in a 55-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Springfield. Davis, a former mortgage broker, was the owner of Master Marketing Consultants. The Kassebaums, former mortgage brokers, were owners of Metro Consulting Group. Hall is a former mortgage broker.

Westport, Connecticut, mortgage broker Fred Stevens pleads guilty to mortgage fraud: Stevens, 53, of Easton, Conn., is charged with submitting fraudulent mortgage applications with IndyMac Bank and other financial institutions resulting in losses of over $1,000,000.

Florida real estate appraiser Juan Gonzalez guilty of mortgage fraud: Gonzalez fraudulently obtained loans on more than 40 properties, victimizing numerous lenders and grossing over $5,000,000 in the process. As a result, the 51-year-old will spend the next 30 years in federal prison and pay a $1 million fine.

While members of Congress, President Bush, and the Treasury Department attempt to work out (pun intended) the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, real estate and mortgage fraud continues to be the fastest-growing white collar crime in American:

WaMu loaned millions to California home flippers convicted in fraud scheme: Records show WaMu, America’s largest savings and loan, financed at least 43 mortgages worth $24.5 million on properties bought and sold by members of the Soni family since 2007. Of the 22 homes sold in that period, at least six have become problems for WaMu: Four were foreclosed, one received a notice of default and another was listed for sale at a $260,000 loss. Total value of WaMu’s mortgages on the troubled properties: $2.7 million.

Weld County’s ‘Most Wanted’ fugitive — a developer — busted in Mexico: Weld County’s “Most Wanted” fugitive sits in a California jail today after a dogged investigation led to his arrest in Mexico. Mark Strodtman, a Greeley developer, was indicted March 25 by Weld County grand jury on 23 felonies, including racketeering. Strodtman, 51, and two others are accused in a mortgage fraud scheme that left many Greeley area families in foreclosure, reduced property values of neighboring homes and defrauded lenders, according to the Weld County District Attorney’s Office.

Brothers admit to million-dollar mortgage fraud: Federal prosecutors say two Virginia brothers have pleaded guilty in a million-dollar mortgage fraud scheme. Twenty-nine-year-old Mohammed Rababeh of Vienna and 31-year-old Ahmed Rababeh of Haymarket pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiring to commit bank fraud.

Former mortgage loan officer pleads guilty to fraud scheme: A 25-year-old woman pleaded guilty in federal court yesterday to participating in a mortgage fraud scheme and faces up to five years in prison and $250,000 in fines. Paula Galacgac admitted that, while working as a loan officer for Mortgage Ability, LLC she recruited two “straw buyers” for properties on O’ahu and assisted them in fraudulently applying for mortgage loans worth more than $400,000. Other members alleged to be part of the fraud conspiracy were named in a separate criminal indictment returned by a federal grand jury May 30.

Officials say Florida man is part of mortgage scheme: A Seffner man was arrested Wednesday in connection with a multimillion-dollar mortgage fraud scheme that victimized dozens of people since 2004, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement said. Michael Fetterhoff, 37, of 205 Kingsway Road, was charged with grand theft of more than $100,000. Fetterhoff worked in sales for Advanced Mortgage Solutions, a mortgage broker company associated with other home improvement businesses that persuaded mostly minority customers in poor areas of Florida to take out home loans, FDLE spokeswoman Trena Reddick said.

Kansas City mortgage fraud ringleader sentenced to 13 years: A Kansas City businessman was sentenced to 13 years in prison for a $17 million mortgage fraud scheme that included buying a home owned by former Jackson County Executive Katheryn Shields and her husband. Raymond Zwego Jr. will also pay nearly $5.6 million in restitution and serve three of those years in prison for a probation violation.

AARP Calls For Help For Victims of Mortgage Fraud: Florida is one of only three states that doesn’t offer financial protection to victims of fraudulent loans. We’re also first in the nation for mortgage fraud. The Florida Association of Mortgage Brokers and AARP are calling on lawmakers to revive the Mortgage Brokerage Guaranty Fund. The fund was quietly cut in the 90’s. It would pay some victims or mortgage fraud 20,000 dollars for their losses. AARP Spokesman Dave Bruns said if the program hadn’t been canceled, today the state would have 24 (m) million dollars to help victims.

Delray Beach mortgage agent guilty of fraud: A Delray Beach mortgage broker pleaded guilty Friday to participating in a wire fraud scheme to misappropriate more than $1.2 million in client funds supposedly held in escrow for real estate transactions and related expenses. John Mohan, 38, faces up to 20 years in prison when he is sentenced Dec. 19 in federal court. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Mohan worked as a mortgage broker and closing agent. He collected money from buyers and lenders and represented to the parties that the funds were being held in escrow to be disbursed for various specified purposes, including the satisfaction of pre-existing mortgages. Prosecutors said Mohan used the money for personal use and investments and tried to conceal the fraud and prevent immediate foreclosure of the property by sometimes making payments on the homeowner’s original mortgage.

Virginia mortgage broker sentenced in real estate fraud scheme: A mortgage broker from Norfolk has been sentenced to four years in federal prison in a mortgage fraud case involving a home in northern Virginia. Fifty-year-old David A. Freelander was sentenced last Friday in Alexandria federal court. He has to pay more than $5.4 million in restitution.

Florida AG suing 10 companies, 15 individuals for mortgage fraud: Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum announced last Friday that his state’s Mortgage Fraud Task Force is suing 10 companies and 15 individuals for their alleged roles in a Central Florida mortgage fraud scheme. The suit alleges that the group obtained more than $37 million in mortgage loans for at least 60 homes and siphoned off more than $6 million of the loan proceeds for their personal use.

12 indicted in Atlanta mortgage fraud scheme: Local authorities said last Monday they charged 12 men with an elaborate mortgage fraud scheme in Atlanta’s West End neighborhood and seized more than $200,000 of assets. In indictments filed last week, Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard Jr. accused the men of buying and selling nine homes using false appraisals that were more than double the homes’ actual value. Seven of the houses were in the 30310 zip code in the West End, where 26 homes were put up for foreclosure auction in late June.

A Baptist church pastor and radio show host and his mortgage broker wife were arrested today on charges stemming from a State of Florida investigation into a $1 Million real estate fraud scam.

Investigators with Florida’s Dept. of Financial Services’ Division of Insurance Fraud, along with the state’s Office of Financial Regulation, say the couple — Rodney McGill and Shalonda McGill — have been enjoying expensive leased vehicles, including a Rolls-Royce, and other luxuries while sticking their so-called clients with more than $1 million in mortgage debt. The two were arrested today on charges of Racketeering, Conspiracy to Commit Racketeering, Grand Theft (2 counts), and Obtaining a Mortgage by False Representation. The McGills are now being held in the Martin County (Fla.) Jail, with bond set for each at $1.4 million. Deputies with the Martin County Sheriff’s Department arrested the pair during a routine traffic stop.

Shalonda McGill and Rodney McGill sourced clients through various programs including the Young Millionaire’s Group, RSM Investment and Mortgage, and the New Hope Outreach Center, all of which operated out of a facility located at 2110 Arch St. in Jensen Beach, Florida. State corporation documents identify Rodney McGill as president and Shalonda McGill as vice president of the New Hope Outreach Center, which is incorporated as a nonprofit church with the McGills listed as pastors.

The investigation found that Rodney McGill, as president of the Young Millionaire’s Group, also solicited customers through a daily local radio program he hosted on WJFP 91.1 FM in Fort Pierce, FL. He told his listeners would teach teach and mentor them on how to buy and sell real estate without any out-of-pocket expense, with the goal of earning $50,000 in 90 days.

In July 2006, state investigators charge, Rodney McGill solicited listeners of his radio show to call in and qualify, based on their credit, to become one of his “Fab 5.” program. Callers allegedly were assured that they would learn McGill’s real estate investing “cash-out technique.”

The McGills purchased real estate in Martin and St. Lucie counties (Florida) by preparing and submitting fraudulent loan applications, and then flipped the properties to Fab 5 members for huge profits. Based on the fraudulent loan applications, four mortgages were obtained in excess of the property’s actual worth, and the McGills are said to have skimmed off the profits leaving three members of the so-called Fab 5 with more than $1.115 million in mortgage payments they were unable to make.

In one case, Florida investigators charge that the McGills paid $210,000 for a home at 1000 N.E. County Line Road in Jensen Beach, FL, in June of 2006. Three months later, they sold the home for $365,000 — a 74% increase at a time when home values in Florida were plummeting. In another scam, the McGills paid $147,000 for a house at 2814 S.W. Ann Arbor Road in Port St. Lucie, FL, according to property records, in August 2006. Three months later, they sold the house at a 56% increase ($229,000).

Florida officials say all of the McGills related properties are either in or are facing foreclosure. The buyers of course all believed they were part of the Fab 5 and were learning the McGill’s real estate investing techniques.

The investigation into Shalonda McGill and Rodney McGill’s fraudulent trappings is ongoing into other real estate transactions in which the McGills were involved. Anyone with information about the McGill’s is asked to contact Detective Ted Padich, (561) 837-5635, with Florida’s Division of Insurance Fraud, or Investigator Steve Brignola, (561) 837-5233, with Florida’s Office of Financial Regulation.

Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers reported earlier this year that Rodney McGill was arrested in April on a child abuse warrant stemming from an incident involving allegations that beat his daughter with a household extension cord. The girl later recanted her story and the charges were dropped. The same newspaper service also reported that McGill led an October 2007 march from his church to his town’s city hall in which 300 people protested high utility bills.

Reported incidents of mortgage fraud in the U.S. increased by nearly 50% in the first quarter of 2008 from a year ago, according to a new report released this week. The report is based on data submitted by Mortgage Asset Research Institute (MARISM) subscribers about loans that were originated in the first quarter of this year and have since been classified as fraudulent, and shows a whopping 42% increase in filings. At the local level, Florida continues to lead all states in reported mortgage fraud. In fact, according to the report, Florida accounted for 24% of all properties with material misrepresentation for loans originated during the first quarter of 2008, and the Miami MSA alone boasts 49% of all of the reports submitted for properties in the state.

California ranked second in the first quarter of this year (with 52% of the properties with misrepresentation coming from the Los Angeles area), followed by a three-way tie for third place among Illinois, Maryland and Michigan.

Major urban areas also score the highest in Illinois, Maryland and Michigan. Ninety-four percent of investigations in the state of Illinois are for properties in the Chicago MSA, while in Maryland, 25% of reports are in the Baltimore MSA. In addition, the Detroit MSA counts for 56% of all of the misrepresentation reported for Michigan.

For all states, the most common type of fraud was in the “General Application Misrepresentation” category, followed closely by misrepresentations related to income and employment. In addition, multiple types of fraud types–such as identity theft and identity fraud–continue to appear in a significant percentage of loan transactions.

The report–which available for download here–presents a number of interesting and noteworthy trends:

• In general, misrepresentation on the mortgage application trends high in each of the states.
• Income and employment misrepresentation on the mortgage application rank high in Florida,
  California, Illinois and Maryland. Florida and Maryland report higher income than employment misrepresentation, and California and Illinois report slightly higher employment than income misrepresentation.
• Michigan shows a high percentage of asset and debt misrepresentation on the mortgage application.
• Appraisal misrepresentation (including value inflation and incorrect use of comparables) is most prevalent in Michigan.
• Maryland has an abnormally high percentage — 69% — of tax return and financial statement misrepresentation.

In its final analysis, this week’s report concludes the following:

1. The first quarter data reveals that loan application misrepresentation continues to plague the industry. According to the FBI’s 2007 Mortgage Fraud Report, “the downward trend in the housing market provides an ideal climate for mortgage fraud perpetrators to employ a myriad of schemes suitable to a down market.” Simply stated, mortgage fraud will not disappear — in fact, it is expected to significantly grow, evolve and penetrate new areas within the industry.
2. As the nation’s lenders redraw their credit practices, we see a continued need to highlight and eliminate loans that are not in good order at the point of origination, well before prefunding processors spend any effort to seek added verification or validation of the mortgage application information. If loan applications are not in good order when submitted, the loan data may likely be adjusted to fit the business practice expectation to meet the requirements for funding, which ultimately may result in funded loans that quickly go bad.
3. To save itself from schemes both commonplace and new, the mortgage industry must continue to strengthen its attention to and practice of due diligence to ensure that transactions are in good order at the point of origination. This includes an analysis of the borrower’s identity, as well as the players involved in each of the real estate roles whether they are outsourced or work directly for the lender.
4. As lenders pursue higher-quality loans for the market, the priority should be on identifying poor quality at the earliest possible point in the process — and at the lowest possible cost. In MARI’s view, the origination and prefunding processes offer the largest and least expensive opportunities to assure funding of higher quality loans. How a lender accepts or rejects a loan application at the front door is often all a criminal needs to see how much further he or she may push through the loan process.
5. Pre-funding fraud detection solutions can help prevent the risk of application discrepancies, exposure to compromised identities and establishment of relationships with insiders who leverage someone’s good name to perpetrate fraud. If on the mortgage application general misrepresentation or income, appraiser or employer misrepresentation were checked adequately at origination and pre-funding, in this quarter’s examples, would there still be significant fraud to report…?
6. Mortgage fraud inflicts damage to profits, reputations and consumer confidence. Today, it is wise to ensure you know the customers, employees and vendors involved in every loan transaction — doing this early in the process can result in overall protection from tainted pipelines and hidden threats to loan quality.

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which earlier today issued yet another Mortgage Fraud Advisory, here are the latest Real Estate Fraud statistics:

• Estimated Annual Losses: $4 billion to $6 billion
• Total Mortgage Fraud Suspicious Activity Reports in Fiscal Year 2007: 46,717, with $813 million in losses
• Total FBI Mortgage Fraud Task Forces/Working Groups (June 2008): 42
• Pending FBI Mortgage Fraud Investigations (May 2008): 1,380
• Cases opened in Fiscal Year 2007: 462 (compared to 295 in Fiscal Year 2003)
• Successes in Fiscal Year 2007: 321 indictments/informations; 260 convictions
• States with Significant Mortgage Fraud problems in 2008:

1. Florida
2. Nevada
3. Michigan
4. California
5. Utah
6. Georgia
7. Virginia
8. Illinois
9. New York
10. Minnesota

The United States Attorney for the Middle District of Florida–Robert E. O’Neill–yesterday announced the return of a 47-count indictment against four real estate industry insiders, charging them with conspiracy, making false statements in connection with bank loans, a scheme to defraud seven FDIC insured banks, and money laundering.

The indicted defendants are:

• Neil Mohamed Husani, 38, formerly a resident of Sarasota, Florida, and owner and principal officer of Capital Force, Inc., an business which purportedly purchased and sold commercial real estate in Sarasota and Manatee Counties
• Michael A. Tringali, 46, a resident of Sarasota, owner and principal officer of G & T Land Development, an entity which purportedly purchased and developed commercial real estate, primarily in Sarasota and Manatee (FL) Counties
• John A. Yanchek, 48, a resident of Sarasota, and a practicing attorney licensed by the State of Florida.
• Larry P. Nardelli, age 49, a resident of Tampa, and a businessman associated with Elba International, LLC and other companies.

John A. Yanchek was arrested yesterday morning without incident. Michael A. Tringali and Larry P. Nardelli were expected to surrender to the authorities today, while Neil Mohamed Husani current whereabouts is said to be unknown.

The maximum penalty for a violation of conspiracy (18 U.S.C. §371) is five years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000. The maximum penalty for a violation of making false statements to a financial institution in connection with a loan (18 U.S.C. §1014) and bank fraud (18 U.S.C. §1344) is 30 years imprisonment and a $1,000,000 fine. The maximum penalty for a violation of a 1956 money laundering charge (18 U.S.C. §1956) is 20 years imprisonment and a $500,000 fine. The maximum penalty for a 1957 money laundering charge (18 U.S.C. §1957) is 10 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.

According to the allegations in the indictment, the defendants conspired to obtain approximately $82,790,000.00 in loans from seven financial institutions in the Tampa/Sarasota, Florida area by making false statements to those banks.

If you’ve been following the Cay Clubs’ mess here on FlippingFrenzy.com, you’re already familiar with a former JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) loan officer named Ross Pickard. According to a number of Cay Club investors, including Carisa and Craig Urban, unbeknownst to them, while working at Chase, Ross Pickard intentionally fudged their income and assets in order to get their Cay Clubs-related loans approved. As a result, according to the Urban’s, as recently as April of this year, there was a task force looking into Mr. Pickard’s practices, and it may only be a matter of time before he is possibly charged with a real estate or mortgage fraud-related crime.

Fast forward three months and we’re just now learning that Ross Pickard is employed in a loan officer-related role at Wells Fargo. As near as we can tell (from phone calls to placed to Mr. Pickard’s own office), Ross Pickard now works for Wells Fargo Private Client Services‎, which is located at 5625 Strand Blvd. in Naples, Florida.

We’re not sure about anyone else, but we sure are surprised that Wells Fargo chose to engage Mr. Pickard when he stands to lose so much as a result of these alleged bad acts. Inflated incomes and assets–both by homeowners and loan officers–created a lot of our current mortgage mess in the first place, and if Mr. Pickard is doing the same under Wells Fargo’s roof, they too may become caught up in something they just didn’t bargain for when agreeing to work with the likes of Ross Pickard.

More Americans are facing foreclosure than at any other time in recent memory. According to the May 2008 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report™ from RealtyTrac, foreclosure filings (i.e., default notices, auction sale notices, and bank repossessions), were reported on 261,255 properties during the month of May, which translates into a 7% increase over April and a 48% increase from May 2007. The report also shows one (1) in every 483 U.S. households received a foreclosure filing during the month of May, the highest monthly foreclosure rate since RealtyTrac began issuing its report in 2005.

Nevada, California, and Arizona post top state foreclosure rates

With one in every 118 households receiving a foreclosure filing in May, Nevada posted the highest state foreclosure rate for the 17th consecutive month. Foreclosure filings were reported on a total of 9,009 Nevada properties, an increase of nearly 24% from the previous month and a 72% increase from May 2007.

California’s foreclosure activity in May increased 11% from the previous month and 81% from May 2007, helping the state continue to register the nation’s second highest state foreclosure rate. One (1) in every 183 California households received a foreclosure filing during the month of May, a rate that was 2.6 times the national average.

Arizona’s May foreclosure rate — 1 in every 201 households received a foreclosure filing during the month — ranked third highest in the U.S. for the second month in a row. Arizona’s foreclosure activity increased nearly 12% from the previous month and almost 119% from May 2007.

One in every 228 Florida households received a foreclosure filing in May, giving it the fourth highest foreclosure rate in the country. Michigan foreclosure activity in May increased nearly 25% from the previous month, helping the state’s foreclosure rate to jump to fifth highest in the country after ranking No. 9 the previous month. One in every 353 Michigan households received a foreclosure filing in May.

Other states with foreclosure rates ranking among the top 10 for the month of May were Georgia, Colorado, Massachusetts, Ohio and New Jersey.

Detailed state-by-state data is available here.

For the second month in a row, California and Florida cities accounted for nine out of the top 10 metropolitan foreclosure rates among the 230 metropolitan areas tracked in the report. Seven cities in California were in the top 10, led by Stockton in the top spot. One in every 75 Stockton area households received a foreclosure filing in May– more than six times the national average. Other California cities in the top 10 were Merced at No. 3, Modesto at No. 4, Riverside-San Bernardino at No. 5, Vallejo-Fairfield at No. 7, Bakersfield at No. 8, and Sacramento at No. 9.

The Cape Coral-Fort Myers metro area in Florida registered the second highest metro foreclosure rate in May, with one in every 79 households receiving a foreclosure filing during the month. The other Florida metro area in the top 10 was Port Lucie-Fort Pierce at No. 10.

Las Vegas was the only city outside of California and Florida with a foreclosure rate ranking among the top 10. One in every 96 Las Vegas households received a foreclosure filing in May, more than five times the national average and No. 6 among the metro areas.

Metro areas with foreclosure rates among the top 20 included Phoenix at No. 12, Detroit at No. 14, San Diego at No. 17 and Miami at No. 19.

Next up: Speculation about when the slide will end / have we seen the worst of the worst. Weighing in on the topic is Joe G. Henry of Long & Foster-affiliated W.C & A.N Miller Realtors in Virginia (comment found on ForeclosurePulse):

Defendable recovery will be 2011 due to the highest volume of ARM resets occurring in June 2008 and the typical foreclosure process lasts 12 months from Notice of Default, Notice of Trustee Sale, Foreclosure Auction, then seasoning to a Bank Owned (REO) — plus a 15-18 month housing inventory. Moreover, for every one bank-owned listing in Fairfax County, we have three short sales, which 80 percent of these will actually be foreclosed. There are three crisis response talking points concerning this scenario: (1) added liquidity; (2) mark down distressed assets; and (3) act now.

What’s your take? Do you agree with Joe G. Henry or do you have a theory of your own?

If you are interested in the federal government’s handling of real estate and mortgage fraud prevention and prosecution, read “FBI Halts Some Cases to Investigate Mortgage Frauds,” by Bloomberg’s Robert Schmidt. If you don’t have time to read the entire article, here’s just what you need to know:

• The FBI, confronting a surge in mortgage fraud, has ordered more than two dozen of its field offices to stop probing certain financial crimes so agents can focus on real estate and mortgage fraud.
• Kenneth Kaiser, chief of the bureau’s criminal investigative division, issued this directive late last week on a video conference call with the heads of 26 FBI offices in areas where real estate fraud is out of control.
• An FBI spokesperson said the shift was made after an analysis of how agents are spending their time. Approximately 150 FBI agents were working on more than 1,300 real estate fraud cases before the directive was issued.
• The 26 FBI field offices were told to temporarily suspend opening new cases dealing with price fixing, mass marketing, wire fraud, mail fraud and environmental crimes. Current cases aren’t being dropped, the FBI spokesperson said.
• FBI field offices in Florida, Georgia, California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, New York, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Minnesota–all rated as real estate and mortgage fraud hot spots–are participating.
• “Diverting FBI resources to deal with cases of mortgage fraud is exactly what Chairwoman Mikulski wants to avoid,” Melissa Schwartz, a spokeswoman for U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski, who heads the appropriations subcommittee for the FBI, told Bloomberg late yesterday.
• The Attorney General of the United States, Michael Mukasey said last week that the Justice Department, the FBI’s parent agency, “won’t create a national task force to combat mortgage fraud as the government did with corporate crime after Enron. “This isn’t that kind of phenomenon,” he said.

For more on this developing story, read FBI Halts Some Cases to Investigate Mortgage Frauds.