Lawyer Arraigned on $700,000 Mortgage Fraud Charges

Brooklyn Lawyer Arraigned on Mortgage Fraud Charges
The New York Law Journal by Andrew Keshner  -  May 9, 2012

A Brooklyn attorney is facing federal fraud and identity theft charges for his alleged role in a mortgage scheme that defrauded a bank of more than $700,000. According to an Eastern District indictment, Benjamin Turner, 48, and others fraudulently obtained $716,510 in mortgage funds from a 2007 closing using false paperwork and altered checks. Turner allegedly persuaded an unidentified woman to buy a Brooklyn property in 2006. She signed paperwork she thought was a credit check but included a power of attorney that Turner and others used to purchase the property unbeknownst to her.  Co-defendant Jacob Vizel, 55, recruited a second unidentified woman to buy the same property on the promise she would not have to make payments on the mortgage. Before the purchase, Turner told an attorney for Wells Fargo there was a $633,000 lien owed to Four Dolphins Corporation—an entity Turner owned—because the first woman had not made any mortgage payments. At closing, Turner allegedly directed the bank's attorney to send the mortgage funds to a Four Dolphins bank account, which Turner wired to himself, Vizel and others. After "sporadic" payments, Turner and Vizel stopped paying the mortgage by November 2008, according to the indictment.  Turner, who is charged with bank fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, and aggravated identity theft, faces a maximum sentence of 30 years. Turner and Vizel, who were arraigned yesterday before Magistrate Judge Lois Bloom, both pleaded not guilty.  During the proceedings, prosecutors and defense attorneys successfully moved to start the 70-day speedy trial clock on June 15 to allow time for plea negotiations. A status conference before Judge Frederic Block is scheduled for that day. Turner was released on $100,000 bond, with the condition the bond be co-signed later this week by another person in addition to his wife. Turner declined to comment on the case outside the courtroom.