Real Estate Attorney, Mortgage Loan Officer, and Loan Processor Plead Guilty in Manhattan Federal Court to Orchestrating $9 Million Mortgage Fraud Scheme
U.S. Attorney’s Office - April 19, 2012 - Southern District of New York - (212) 637-2600
Eleven Defendants Have Now Pled Guilty for Their Roles in the Scheme
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that real estate attorney Eric Finger, mortgage loan officer Reginald Johnson, and mortgage loan processor Denise Parks each pled guilty this week for their roles in a $9 million mortgage fraud scheme. The defendants pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald. Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said, “The fraud in which these three defendants and their co-conspirators engaged permeated nearly every aspect of the mortgage loan process. With these guilty pleas, eleven defendants in this massive fraud have now been adjudged guilty and will be punished.” According to the allegations in the indictment previously filed in Manhattan federal court: Finger, Johnson, and Parks, along with nine other individuals, engaged in an illegal scheme to defraud various lending institutions by using fictitious and fraudulent “straw identities” to apply for mortgage loans. Through the scheme, the defendants were able to obtain more than $9 million in mortgage loans for the purchase of dozens of residential properties throughout the New York City metropolitan area and Long Island. Most of these loans quickly went into default. Finger was a real estate attorney who acted as the lawyer for the lenders on the transactions and submitted false information to the lenders to conceal the fraud; Johnson ran Reliable Capital Corporation, a mortgage brokerage firm that brokered and processed the fraudulent mortgage applications, and he also sold two of his own properties to straw identities as part of the scheme; and Parks was a loan processor who processed the fraudulent mortgage applications at Reliable Capital and another mortgage brokerage firm.
Finger, 47, of Mineola, New York, pled guilty on Tuesday, April 17, 2012 to two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud. He faces a maximum sentence of 60 years in prison. Johnson, 38, of St. Albans, New York, pled guilty on Tuesday, April 17, 2012 to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud and two counts of wire fraud. He faces a maximum sentence of 70 years in prison. Parks, 46, of Olive Branch, Mississippi, pled guilty today to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud. She faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison. All three defendants will be sentenced by Judge Buchwald. Finger and Johnson will be sentenced on August 16, 2012, and Parks on August 21, 2012. Co-defendants Jeffrey Larochelle, Joell Barnett, Foriduzzaman Sarder, Sakat Hossain, Mikael Huq, Frederick Warren, Dorian Brown, and Fritz Bonaventure previously pled guilty in this case. Sarder was sentenced on June 26, 2011 to 78 months in prison, and Hossain was sentenced on March 1, 2012 to 29 months in prison. Larochelle, Barnett, Huq, Warren, Brown, and Bonaventure await sentencing. Criminal charges remain pending against co-defendant Brandon Lisi. His trial is scheduled to begin on May 7, 2012, and he is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. Mr. Bharara praised the outstanding investigative efforts of the New York Attorney General’s Office, which led the investigation and has collaborated in the prosecution. He also thanked the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the New York State Department of Financial Services for their assistance in this case. This case is being handled by the Office’s Complex Frauds Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael D. Lockard and Ryan P. Poscablo and Assistant Attorney General Meryl Lutsky—who is designated as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in this case—are in charge of the prosecution.
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It's time for the dishonest lawyers to get what they deserve: revocation of their law license and a prison cell.
ReplyDeletei'm curious as to who filed the initial complaint...
ReplyDelete--Michale A. Hense - Searching For Rule Of Law In America
When are they going to address the humungous problem in Suffolk County. Loans going through fake banks.No mortgage broker involved. My former husband has been doing straw deals since the 1980s.
ReplyDeleteHon.Gary Weber his Law Clerk Michael Cipilino big culprits. All public records filed in Riverhead. Using spoof names like Roy Boe, Roy L.Boe, his wife Betty Broderick.(the woman jailed for killing her busive spouse).
Another big fraud benefactor is Hon.Barbara Lynaugh,Suff.family Ct. Judge Rvhd.
Hon.Denise Molia Suff.Sup..
I know this because my ex. husband has filing access. He is the one signing for the bank VP, notary etc. Axcess to MERS,FANNIE, FREDDIE.
Big story here about why our nation is in financial crisis.
I have cross ref. all of the judges, Police, detectives,attorneys even extends to the DSS.
Each time that I try to access the courts in N.Y. My index # gets altered slightly. My cases either get dismissed or answered in exs favor. The hand writing on my court Decisions. Looks a lot like that of my ex. Spent many hours in the clerks office. Studying mortgages & Deeds. Cross ref. judges etc. who have denied my rights or harassed my kids Cops D.A. our attorneys. Every one of them shows a satisfied mortgage MERS that coincides with our court dates, false arrest attempt to get justice or rights.
All in the handwriting of my ex husband. Who is not truly my ex. That is ..unless it has been ruled that a spouse can sign for a judge in a divorce proceeding.
Too many inex #s to keep up with as he changes the facts filed to suit his purpose. Anyone doubt this. Ask rystal to print my docs sent to her.
Judge Wm. Kent the 3rd. He gave all of our marital assets to my ex, never did discovery. Allowed ex to file his own paperwork w/o my attorneys signature in 01.
ReplyDeleteLeft me and our then 6 year old son Brandon homeless, w.o a car. Had me pay off half of a mortgage on the marital home. That I later found did not exist.(Servicing fraud I guess).
Kent threatened me in court on the record wich I have. That he would"hold me responsible for exs legal fees to attorney Wm.Sweeney. If I refused to sign the papers. Relating to this unfair stip. that ex never honored anyway. Never able to get back into Sup. Ct.Judges even my ttorneys Fran Moss, Robert Dapelo. Get sat. mortgages then they allow my ex to answer my petitions.
Anyone interested in seeing them?This is the state of our legal system. Judges are anything BUT Honorable. Attorneys can't even spell the word fiduciary never mind implement it.
So much for America as our ancestors knew it. Been taken over by terrorists that are U.S.citizens. A joke of a system.
Tried contacting you through Crystal.
ReplyDeleteDid she relay the message?
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