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Mortgage Fraud

Police & Fire
Democratic Senator Bob Menendez Indicted On Federal Bribery Charges Democratic Senator Bob Menendez Indicted On Federal Bribery Charges
Democratic Senator Bob Menendez Indicted On Federal Bribery Charges Democratic U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey was indicted Friday on federal corruption charges that include allegations of him secretly supporting the government of Egypt and trying to influence U.S. prosecutors' case against Bergen County real estate magnate Fred Daibes. Mendendez, 69, who's chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, made several moves in exchange for bribes, some of which were passed to his wife, Nadine Arsianian, a sweeping indictment unsealed on Sept. 22 alleges. A staggering array of charges were brought by the grand jurors in the Southern District of N…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Ex-Hudson Sheriff's Officer Admits $98,000 Short-Sale Mortgage Scheme For Jersey Shore Home Ex-Hudson Sheriff's Officer Admits $98,000 Short-Sale Mortgage Scheme For Jersey Shore Home
Ex-Hudson Sheriff's Officer Admits $98,000 Short-Sale Mortgage Scheme For Jersey Shore Home A former Hudson County sheriff’s officer admitted defrauding a bank to duck $98,000 in mortgage payments on a Jersey Shore home, federal authorities said. Osbado Hernandez, 54, of Avenel, conspired with others to lie about a bogus short sale of his house in Keansburg so that the unidentified bank would discharge what was left on his mortgage, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. Hernandez bought the property for $239,900 in 2006, financing it through a mortgage loan from the victimized bank, a complaint on file in U.S. District Court in Trenton says. He ended up behind on the payments,…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Accused NJ Mortgage Fraud Schemer Already Had A History, Records Show Accused NJ Mortgage Fraud Schemer Already Had A History, Records Show
Accused NJ Mortgage Fraud Schemer Already Had A History, Records Show Gerrmaioud Chape was no stranger to police and prosecutors in Bergen County. So it wasn’t surprising to some when county prosecutors charged him with stealing $525,000 from unwitting investors through mortgage fraud. Chape, 43, already had a petty criminal history that included arrests for speeding, shoplifting and drugs when Bogota police charged him in 2015 with pocketing $40,000 that a Colombian brother and sister saved to come to America. The money was supposed to be a down payment on a mortgage for the siblings’ new home, authorities said at the time, but Chape used it instead on pers…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Mortgage Fraud: NJ Developer, Attorney Admit Swindling Lenders Out Of $3.5M Mortgage Fraud: NJ Developer, Attorney Admit Swindling Lenders Out Of $3.5M
Mortgage Fraud: NJ Developer, Attorney Admit Swindling Lenders Out Of $3.5M A New Jersey real estate developer and a lawyer admitted running a multi-layered mortgage fraud that cost banks more than $3.5 million in losses, federal authorities said. Developer Victor Santos, 63, of Watchung, paid stand-in "straw" buyers $5,000 each to first purchase a dozen properties in Newark and then secure tenants to lease them, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. A group of conspirators including him and attorney Fausto Simoes, 69, of Millington, covered the costs -- including fees and mortgage payments, the U.S. attorney said. "Santos, Simoes, and others also caused the sub…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Feds: International Fugitive Admits Role In $30 Million NJ Mortgage Fraud Feds: International Fugitive Admits Role In $30 Million NJ Mortgage Fraud
Feds: International Fugitive Admits Role In $30 Million NJ Mortgage Fraud A New Jersey mortgage company loan officer who’d been an international fugitive for several years admitted his role in a long-running, large-scale scam that cost lenders more than $30 million, authorities said. Isaac DePaula, 41, and a group of conspirators pulled off the scheme through a company called Premier Mortgage Services (PMS), according to a complaint on file in U.S. District Court in Newark. The thieves targeted low-income areas, recruiting straw buyers to seek mortgages for properties they really couldn’t afford, federal authorities charged. The conspirators secured the loans by…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
NJ Man Gets 15 Months In Fed Pen For Major Mortgage Fraud NJ Man Gets 15 Months In Fed Pen For Major Mortgage Fraud
NJ Man Gets 15 Months In Fed Pen For Major Mortgage Fraud A Ridgefield Park man was sentenced Friday to 15 months in federal prison for his role in a scheme to defraud mortgage lenders out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Dennys A. Tapia, 55, took a deal from the government rather than go to trial, pleading guilty to a single count of conspiring to commit bank fraud last December. He'll have to serve out the entire sentence because there's no parole in the federal prison system. Tapia and a number of unnamed co-conspirators produced bogus documents to a loan officer for potential borrowers, including fraudulent lease agreements, bank statement…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Long Island Man Sentenced In NJ/NY ‘Shotgun’ Mortgage Scheme That Cost Banks $9 Million Long Island Man Sentenced In NJ/NY ‘Shotgun’ Mortgage Scheme That Cost Banks $9 Million
Long Island Man Sentenced In NJ/NY ‘Shotgun’ Mortgage Scheme That Cost Banks $9 Million A Long Island man was sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison for his role in a $9 million ‘shotgun’ mortgage scheme in New Jersey and New York. Yorce Yotagri, 54, of Freeport admitted last year that he partnered with Jorge Flores of Oakdale and Jose Piehrahita, also of Freeport, to secure several home equity lines of credit for the same properties and pocket the money before the lending banks found out, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. One of those properties was in Jersey City, a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Newark says. Yotagri lived on another in Fre…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
NJ Owner Of 70 Multi-Family Properties Admits $150M Bank Fraud Scheme NJ Owner Of 70 Multi-Family Properties Admits $150M Bank Fraud Scheme
NJ Owner Of 70 Multi-Family Properties Admits $150M Bank Fraud Scheme A Teaneck landlord admitted in federal court this week that he orchestrated a $150 million bank and securities fraud scheme that lasted nearly 10 years. Seth Levine, 52, told a U.S. District Court judge in Newark via teleconference that he and others pocketed cash they received by illegally refinancing 70 multi-family buildings containing nearly 2,500 apartments. Levine said he lied on refinancing applications about the rents collected, the number of apartments leased, expenses and the true owners of the complex, Acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Rachael A. Honig said. That wasn’t all: L…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
10 Charged In NJ Mortgage Fraud Scheme That Swindled Low Income Buyers Out Of Thousands 10 Charged In NJ Mortgage Fraud Scheme That Swindled Low Income Buyers Out Of Thousands
10 Charged In NJ Mortgage Fraud Scheme That Swindled Low Income Buyers Out Of Thousands Ten people including two at large have been charged in a mortgage fraud scheme that included racketeering, theft, tampering with records and money laundering across Essex County, authorities said. Between 2016 and 2019, the individuals recruited unsuspecting buyers for investment properties in Newark, East Orange, and Irvington, Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens, II said Friday.  With little to no down payment and questionable financial stability, the buyers were led to entrust the entire mortgage application process to Darnell Alford, of Toms River, and Travis Glover…

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by Jon Craig
Police & Fire
Feds: Longtime Fugitive From Brazil Surrenders In Major NJ Mortgage Fraud Feds: Longtime Fugitive From Brazil Surrenders In Major NJ Mortgage Fraud
Feds: Longtime Fugitive From Brazil Surrenders In Major NJ Mortgage Fraud A long-time Brazilian fugitive flew returned to New Jersey on Tuesday to face federal charges in a long-running mortgage fraud, authorities said. Isaac DePaula, 40, of Brazil, had been on the run since federal authorities first charged him in a 2012 complaint and then a grand jury in U.S. District Court in Newark indicted him four years later. He flew in to Newark Airport on Tuesday to face the indictment, which charges him with conspiracy to commit bank fraud and three counts of bank fraud, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. A federal judge ordered DePaula’s release pending further court…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Feds In Newark Bust Contractor Who They Said Scammed Public Library Feds In Newark Bust Contractor Who They Said Scammed Public Library
Feds In Newark Bust Contractor Who They Said Scammed Public Library Federal authorities on Thursday arrested a Union County businessman who they said pulled off a pair of scams, one of which cost the Orange Public Library $40,000. Shenandoah Adams Sr., 54, of New Providence initially bought an East Orange site on Hilton Street in 2014 on behalf of his property management company, then arranged for a $153,562 loan to a “close associate” knowing that person didn’t have the money to pay his company the balance of the $225,000 purchase price, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. At the March 2015 closing, Adams had his associate write a worthless check to cover …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Park Ridge Dad, Upper Saddle River Son Sentenced To Federal Time For Mortgage Scam Park Ridge Dad, Upper Saddle River Son Sentenced To Federal Time For Mortgage Scam
Park Ridge Dad, Upper Saddle River Son Sentenced To Federal Time For Mortgage Scam A Park Ridge man was sentenced Thursday to 27 months in federal prison and his Upper Saddle River son to home confinement for eight months for defrauding mortgage lenders out of more than $300,000. George Bussanich Sr., 60, and George Bussanich Jr., 39, used most of the money to buy high-end luxury vehicles, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Both men previously admitted in U.S. District Court in Newark that they used sham short sales of two properties -- one on Jefferson Avenue in Emerson, the other on Lillian Street in Park Ridge – to swindle mortgage lenders between 2009 and 2012. The …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Park Ridge Con Man Admits Cooking Up $300,000 Mortgage Scam With Upper Saddle River Son Park Ridge Con Man Admits Cooking Up $300,000 Mortgage Scam With Upper Saddle River Son
Park Ridge Con Man Admits Cooking Up $300,000 Mortgage Scam With Upper Saddle River Son A Park Ridge con man already facing state prison time admitted in federal court on Wednesday that he and his son defrauded mortgage lenders out of more than $300,000, using most of the money to buy high-end luxury vehicles. George Bussanich Sr., 60, cut a deal with the government through which he pleaded guilty to bank fraud conspiracy and tax evasion in exchange for consideration at his Sept. 25 sentencing in U.S. District Court in Newark. His son George Bussanich Jr., 39, of Upper Saddle River, is scheduled to be sentenced the same day for his October 2017 guilty plea to tax evasion. For…

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by Jerry DeMarco