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www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-mortgage-fraud-chargesjun19,0,381015.story
chicagotribune.com
Mortgage fraud crackdown looms
Up to 70 people may be charged with fraud here
By Jeff Coen and Todd Lighty
Tribune reporters
11:08 PM CDT, June 18, 2008
Federal authorities fanned out Wednesday and began making arrests in what sources called a sweeping investigation of mortgage fraud in the Chicago area and across the country.
Up to 70 people were expected to be charged here as part of the effort, sources said. A first indictment publicly surfaced this week.
The operation comes amid an unfolding mortgage crisis nationwide that has led federal authorities to make mortgage fraud a new priority.
Announcements of charges were expected as soon as Thursday in Washington D.C., Chicago and elsewhere.
As mortgage fraud has boomed, it has become more sophisticated, authorities have said, and investigators have begun targeting prolific crews, some with links to street gangs. Those arrested this week in the latest case include brokers and appraisers, sources said.
The investigation is the first major case of its kind in Chicago since federal authorities brought charges in February in a mortgage fraud scheme that grew out of a probe of the Black Disciples and Black P Stone gangs, authorities said.
In that case, drug money was being laundered through the purchase and renovation of real estate, authorities said. Investigators with the FBI and U.S. Postal Inspection Service eventually found some 100 properties tied up in the scheme, officials said.
In the new case, court records showed, a federal grand jury on Tuesday indicted Jonathan Hon, who bought and sold real estate in Chicago and the suburbs. Hon controlled Lucid Muse Corp. and Lucid Muse Properties Inc., according to the indictment.
Hon allegedly used straw purchasers in the scheme to defraud lenders, title companies and financial institutions, according to the court records.
Hon submitted paperwork for loans for the straw buyers knowing they wouldn't make payments, the charges alleged. Hon then kept control over the properties, including many on the South Side, and used some of the money he brought in to pay off lien holders, the charges alleged.
The false applications allegedly informed lenders that the straw buyers would be residing in the homes when Hon knew that not to be true.
In all, authorities allege that a mortgage broker pocketed about $2.5 million as part of the lending scam involving seven homes in Oak Park, River Forest and Chicago.
Hon, 37, was indicted on five counts of wire fraud and on another six counts of mail fraud. He is accused of falsely obtaining federal low-income housing assistance on rental property he did not own.
Hon, who was a principal in Burnham Mortgage Inc., could not be reached Wednesday for comment. Lucid Muse Corp. and Lucid Muse Properties have dissolved, according to the Secretary of State's Web site.
"Jonathan has always been a hard-working member of the business community," said Hon's lawyer, Michael Petro. "We are going to examine these charges and respond accordingly in court."
Petro added that the conduct Hon is charged with involves transactions from several years ago.
"The mortgage companies approved these applications, the title companies approved them and the banks approved them," Petro said. "Now, five years later, the U.S. attorney says there's something criminal."
Hon is scheduled to be arraigned next week. He has been released on his own recognizance, court records show.
Two other cases related to mortgage fraud were filed late Wednesday. They involve the owner of a mortgage company, the owner of a brokerage and a builder who owned property through two companies.
Charged with mail fraud in one of the cases were Jeff Trochowski, the owner of Lakeshore Financial Corp., and Greg Sarwa, who owned properties through PGN Inc. and Kee Builders.
The men allegedly obtained fraudulent loans by inflating the value of properties, with Sarwa bringing in more than $750,000.
In another case, Anthony Matthews, the owner of Express Mortgage, was charged with one count of fraud for allegedly scheming with others to obtain more than $1 million in loans on five South Side properties.
Matthews, according to court records, prepared mortgage loan applications that inflated unqualified buyers' income and personal savings in order to persuade the banks to approve the loans. Records show that Matthews was assisted by an unidentified accomplice who created false W-2 wage forms, bank statements and pay stubs. The lenders suffered about $400,000 in losses on the bad loans from 2003 through 2006, authorities said.
Attorneys for them could not be reached for comment.
Announcement of the national federal effort will come just days after the FBI made it known that leaders of its offices in cities hit hard by mortgage fraud were being directed to make it a priority over other types of financial crime.
The bureau reported that during the 12 months ending last September, calls from lenders about suspicious activity involving mortgages had surged about 30 percent over the same period a year earlier.
The FBI pointed to Illinois, Florida, Georgia, California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, New York, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and Minnesota as hot spots.
jcoen@tribune.com
tlighty@tribune.com
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| Чт, Июн 19, 2008 03:58pm [Аноним] - 5796 d back | ↑↓ |
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uveren, mnogije uze ne v USA...
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| Чт, Июн 19, 2008 04:01pm [Аноним] - 5796 d back | ↑↓ |
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P.S. a voobshe to , libo chego to ne dogovarivajut, libo ...summi u nix kakije to smeshnije, ja bi daze skazal - detskije
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