An Alabama real estate investor agreed to plead guilty and serve prison time for his role in rigging bids and mail fraud at real estate foreclosure auctions, the Department of Justice announced Friday. To date, three individuals and one company have pleaded guilty in the investigation into fraud and bid rigging in southern Alabama.
Read More
Through an ongoing investigation into bid rigging, a former executive of a New York tax liens company pleaded guilty Tuesday for his role in rigging bids for tax liens auctioned by municipalities through out the state, according to statement issued by the Department of Justice. Stephen E. Hruby, who supervised the purchasing of municipal tax liens at auctions in New Jersey, was the seventh to plead guilty from the ongoing bid rigging investigation. A felony charge was filed against him in the U.S. District Court in Newark, New Jersey.
Read More
A lawsuit was filed against GFI Mortgage Bankers alleging it charged African American and Hispanic borrowers higher interest rates and fees on mortgage loans because of their race rather than their creditworthiness, the Justice Department announced Tuesday. At a time when so many American homeowners - of all races - are struggling to make their mortgage payments, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York says it is unacceptable that GFI's practices resulted in higher fees and rates for minority customers.
Read More
After filing false liens against four federal government officials, a Washington state man was sentences to 41 months in prison Monday, the Justice Department and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) announced.
Ronald James Davenport of Chewelah, Washington filed more than $20 billion in false liens on properties of a U.S. attorney and the court clerk of the Eastern District of Washington, an assistant attorney, and an IRS revenue officer, according to the evidence presented at trial in December 2009.
Read More
A former chief financial officer of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage (TBW) pleaded guilty Tuesday to making false statements and conspiring to commit bank and wire fraud for his role in a $2.9 billion scheme that contributed to the failures of TBW and Colonial Bank. Delton de Armas of Carrollton, Texas, faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison when he is sentenced on June 15, 2012. He admitted in court that from 2005 through August 2009, he and others schemed to defraud financial institutions that had invested in Ocala Funding.
Read More
The Department of Justice reached a settlement today with Empirian Property Management Inc. regarding allegations that the management company refused to terminate leases for military members after the members received permanent change of station orders, the Justice Department announced today. The military members involved were on active duty in the Air Force and were assigned to Offutt Air Force Base in Sarpy County, Nebraska. By not allowing the service members to end their leases early after receiving military orders to relocate, the management company did not follow requirements stated in the
Read More
The special mortgage investigation unit announced by President Obama during his State of the Union address Tuesday night has taken shape. The new Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities (RMBS) Working Group will operate within the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force and will consists of at least 55 Department of Justice attorneys and investigators, as well as state attorneys general. The president has tasked the group with uncovering those responsible for pooling and selling mortgage bonds that contributed to the financial crisis.
Read More
The U.S. Department of Justice released a 69-page report Tuesday on a foreclosure intervention method that is becoming increasingly popular across the country - mediation. The paper draws from an earlier workshop which was attended by dozens of mediation program stakeholders and researchers. A key finding that emerged, according to DOJ officials, is that the federal government should take an active role, both in helping to develop program and evaluation guidelines and in providing resources for mediation programs and research.
Read More
Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts says the civil lawsuit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last week against six former executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac "does not go nearly far enough." Brown is pressing the Department of Justice and the SEC to immediately open criminal investigations into Fannie and Freddie. The senator says authorities need to take a closer look at the GSEs' business dealings prior to the housing collapse and their disclosure of subprime mortgage holdings.
Read More
The Justice Department announced Wednesday a $335 million agreement to settle allegations against Countrywide of discriminatory lending from 2004 to 2008. This settlement is the largest the department has ever reached regarding fair lending. Countrywide allegedly discriminated against 200,000 minority borrowers by charging them higher interest rates than white borrowers with matching creditworthiness and financial status. The money will go to those borrowers harmed by Countrywide's practices.
Read More
Do you have a news tip, story idea, or suggestion for DSNews.com or DS News magazine?
Simply e-mail editor@dsnews.com.
Whether you choose to tell us a little about yourself or prefer anonymity, we appreciate your contribution!
