New York Paralegal Blog

DAVENPORT, IA—Today, Mary Lee Reinking of Clinton, IA, a former mortgage broker with Crow Valley Mortgage in Bettendorf, Iowa, was sentenced by United States District Judge John A. Jarvey to five years' probation, including one-year home confinement, in connection with Reinking's previous guilty plea to one count of wire fraud. Reinking also was ordered to pay $97,343 in restitution. Reinking and Natalie Long, another broker employed at Crow Valley Mortgage, assisted Darryl Hannken and Robert Herdrich in a scheme to defraud mortgage lenders Argent Mortgage and New Century Mortgage in connection with loans to purchase two rental properties in Davenport, Iowa. Reinking and Long, aware that Hanneken and Herdrich would divert some of the loan proceeds to their own pockets without lender knowledge, facilitated the scheme by acting as broker for Herdrich and Hanneken. Reinking and Long also submitted false information concerning the income and financial assets of Herdrich and Hanne...

BALTIMORE, MD—U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz sentenced Timothy Reed, age 45, of Beltsville, Maryland, today to 51 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for mail fraud arising from the fraudulent purchase of 25 properties in Maryland, the District of Columbia, and Virginia using false mortgage and settlement documents. Judge Motz also ordered that Reed pay $4,196,967 in restitution. The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Richard A. McFeely of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Postal Inspector in Charge Daniel S. Cortez of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service - Washington Division; Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy and his Economic Crimes Unit; and Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey Irvine of the United States Secret Service - Washington Field Office.

Eleventh and Final Defendant to Plead Guilty in the Metropolitan Money Store Case GREENBELT, MD—Rolando Alonzo Cousins, a/k/a “Junior,” age 32, of Bowie, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud in connection with a massive mortgage fraud scheme which promised to help homeowners facing foreclosure keep their homes and repair their damaged credit, but left them homeless and with no equity. With Cousins’ plea all 11 defendants in the Metropolitan Money Store case have now been convicted. The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Richard A. McFeely of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey Irvine of the U.S. Secret Service - Washington Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Barbara Golden of the U.S. Secret Service - Baltimore Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Rebecca Sparkman of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investiga...

Manhattan District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau announced today the indictment of 13 individuals and a mortgage origination company for perpetrating over $100 million in mortgage fraud over a four-year period in the New York City metropolitan area. In addition, 12 individuals have already waived indictment and pleaded guilty to felonies relating to their participation in the mortgage fraud scheme. The indictment charges 13 individuals and the mortgage company, AFG FINANCIAL GROUP, INC., with enterprise corruption, grand larceny, scheme to defraud and conspiracy involving 19 fraudulent mortgage transactions. The defendants include the principals and a number of employees of the mortgage company, as well as bank employees, appraisers, and three attorneys. Two other attorneys are among the defendants who already pleaded guilty. The crimes charged in the indictment occurred between June 2004 and April 2009 with the bulk of the fraudulent closings occurring from mid-2005 through the end of...

WASHINGTON – The Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced today a national take down of mortgage fraud schemes, the culmination of substantial coordinated efforts during the last three and a half months to identify, arrest and prosecute mortgage fraud violators through the United States. Operation Malicious Mortgage highlights the strong enforcement response undertaken by the Department of Justice and its law enforcement partners to combat the threat mortgage fraud poses to the U.S. housing industry and worldwide credit markets. From March 1 to June 18, 2008, Operation Malicious Mortgage resulted in 144 mortgage fraud cases in which 406 defendants were charged. Yesterday, 60 arrests were made in mortgage fraud-related cases in 15 districts. Charges in Operation Malicious Mortgage cases were brought in every region of the United States and in more than 50 judicial districts by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices based upon the law enforcement and investigative eff...