Miami mortgage fraud arrests made in south florida
July 29, 2009
Once again, Miami leads the State of Florida in
mortgage fraud arrests. On July 26, 2009, the Miami-Dade Police Department's Mortgage Fraud Task Force with the assistance of the United States Secret Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Postal Inspection Service completed a series of arrests in mortgage fraud cases. Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez made the announcement. Mayor Alvarez stated, "Today, I am proud to announce that with the help of United States Attorney's Office, we are continuing to aggressively fight mortgage fraud - a crime so prevalent in South Florida."
In total, law enforcement made 12 arrests; all of the individuals were
federally indicted for their alleged involvement in an extensive and complex mortgage fraud scheme. Some of those indicted immediately retained
Miami criminal attorneys who special in mortgage fraud defense to represent them.
Nine of the twelve arrests resulted from a year and half long joint investigation between Miami and federal investigative agencies. The authorities based their investigation on an analysis of properties in foreclosure or default in the Miami area. One of the mortgage fraud schemes involved the use of straw purchasers to obtain nine mortgages loans on various properties with inflated prices. Those involved skimmed money from the proceeds if the illegal transactions. The amount of loss in this case exceeds two million dollars.
The other three arrests stemmed from vacant lot deals involving exceedingly inflated prices. The lots were sold to straw purchasers. The amount of loss in this case exceeds nine hundred thousand dollars.
Since its inception in 2007, the Miami mortgage fraud task force has made in excess of 150 arrests, drafted legislation which was signed by President Obama into law on May 20, 2009, drafted mortgage fraud legislation for the State of Florida which make mortgage fraud a second degree felony and has approached an assisted other law enforcement agencies in combating mortgage crime.
Glen Theobald, Chief Counsel of the Miami-Dade Police Department, is in charge of the Miami Mortgage Fraud Task Force. The task force is made up of police officers, prosecutors and other public officials. The task force's vision is to reduce and prevent future mortgage fraud in the Miami area and to prosecute offenders who violate the mortgage fraud statute.
Another Round of Mortgage Fraud Arrest in Miami-Dade County, South Florida Carribbean News, July 29, 2009
