MFI-Miami Blog

New York Foreclosure Mill Rosicki, Rosicki & Associates Accused Of Scamming Fannie Mae  FBI agent turned foreclosure mill operator Tom Rosicki New York foreclosure mill Rosicki, Rosicki & Associates allegedly used its affiliated companies to systemically  overcharge Fannie Mae for foreclosure-related services . The Department of Justice alleges the firm defrauded Fannie Mae   out of millions of dollars. The DOJ alleges the firm   engaged in a scheme with two of its wholly-owned affiliates to markup foreclosure services. The complaint also alleges the firm overcharged Fannie Mae by as much as 750%. The two wholly-owned subsidiaries are Enterprise Process Service and Paramount Land. The law firm specializes in foreclosures and executes foreclosures in New York. The two founding partners of the firm own and control both Enterprise and Paramount. Enterprise handles the process serving and Paramount is their title search company. The three companies performed foreclo

New Jersey And Other States Start State Level CFPB  Agencies Several states have announced they are launching state level CFPB agencies. This is in response to CFPB Acting Director Mick Mulvaney’s memo laying out his vision for the CFPB. The memo was obtained by investigative journalism nonprofit  ProPublica .  Mick   Mulvaney was forced to respond with an editorial in the  Wall Street Journal.   Mulvaney wrote that the bureau will be a much kinder and gentler agency toward banking under his watch. Mulvaney wrote that the CFPB: …bringing the full weight of the federal government down on the necks of the people we serve should be something that is only done reluctantly. Mulvaney’s mission statement and the CFPB’s  recent move  to reconsider agency functions concerns consumer advocates. As a result, they wonder how much consumer protection the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will be engaging in going forward. The New York Department of Financial Services Superinte

Actress Rose McGowan Sells Her $2 Million Mansion To Finance Legal Battle Against Harvey Weinstein Rose McGowan has upped the stakes in her legal fight against Harvey Weinstein. McGowan has sold her Los Angeles home to Israeli filmmaker Ariel Vroment. Vroment  paid $1.93 million  for the property. She calls Weinstein  “the monster,”  and alleges that he raped her in 1997. The four-bedroom house is almost 3,000 square feet and had an open-concept layout. It also has an outdoor terrace with a fire pit. It sits atop Nichols Canyon in suburban Los Angeles. The actress bought the house in 2011 for almost $1.4 million, according to the New York Post. Read more at MFI-Miami

Debt Relief Scammers To Lose Luxury Items In Court Mandated Auction To Pay Victims They Scammed A trio of debt relief scammers had all their toys auctioned off. The three Florida scammers ripped off $80 million from consumers across the country. Last year, U.S. District Judge Cecilia Altonaga  entered a preliminary injunction that halted  the scam. the Federal Trade Commission and the Florida State Attorney General filed suit against Jeremy Lee Marcus, Craig Smith, and Yisbet Segrea. The suit alleges the three men used more than a dozen different companies to fool consumers into thinking they would receive help to get out of debt. The court named Miami attorney Jonathan Perlman as the receiver and commissioned him to recover whatever he could for victims. Perlman said he and his legal team have identified $32 million in assets for recovery. Items auctioned off included 630 SW 25th Ave. in Fort Lauderdale and another home worth more than $5.25 million in Fort La

Federal Judge Maryanne Trump Barry Selling Ocean Front Palm Beach Mansion For $23 Million Federal Judge Maryanne Trump Barry has put her eight-bedroom beachfront mansion on the market for $23 million. She paid $11.5 million for it in 2004. Barry is a federal  appellate court judge  for the US Third Circuit. She is also the older sister of President Donald Trump. The  Palm Beach Daily News  reports that a sales contract is pending on the eight-bedroom beachfront mansion. The  10,455 square foot property  also has 11 bathrooms and an open entertaining area with a formal living room. The home also features a sunroom, a family room, and a library. Federal Judge Maryanne Trump Barry shares her brother’s taste in gaudy decor. Outside there’s a large backyard in-ground swimming pool with a balcony with a view of the ocean. The property built in 1956 also features 194 feet beachfront. The house was first listed for sale in early December according to the New York Daily News. B

New York State DMV Scammer Busted For Taking Driving Tests For Immigrants From Massachusetts Emmanuel Bao of Buffalo, NY, pleaded guilty to mail fraud in a bizarre case involving the New York State DMV. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Assistant U.S. Attorney  Jonathan P. Cantil  stated that Bao is a French and Swahili interpreter. Bao interpreted the New York State DMV driver permit written test for multiple out-of-state individuals. Most of the individuals were had refugee status from Africa and the Caribbean. They also recently relocated from the Massachusetts area. READ MORE AT MFI-Miami

Cartier Boss Says Nightmares Of The Poor And Destitute Overthrowing Plutocrats Keeps Him Awake At Night The multi-billionaire boss of Cartier says he fears the poor rise up to destroy plutocrats like him. Cartier boss Johann Rupert has revealed his greatest fear. The multi-billionaire boss says he fears robots replacing workers and the poor rising up to destroy plutocrats like him. Rupert expressed his worries to his fellow plutocrats at the Financial Times Business of Luxury Summit in Monaco. The fashion tycoon also told them that his nightmares of the social armageddon are imminent. According to  Bloomberg: Johann Rupert told the conference to bear in mind that when the poor rise up, the middle classes won’t want to buy luxury goods for fear of exposing their wealth. The Cartier boss stated he had been reading about changes in labor technology. He also stated that Oxfam figures suggest the top 1% of the global population now owns more wealth than the other 9

Detroit Businessman Bans Irish-Americans From Pub On Saint Patrick’s Day A Detroit bar banned Irish-Americans from his pub on Saint Patrick’s Day. Dan Margulis’s pub sat along the Saint Patrick’s Day Parade route in Detroit. He also posted signs in the window calling Irish people “lazy” and “lower class citizens” in his windows. Most of the drunken Irish-Americans attending the parade lived up to their Irish stereotypes by starting fights with the bouncer at the door. Bouncer Bill Johns would use language from century-old newspapers to berate the Irish to people passing by: We don’t need no more immigrants in this country. They’re ruining this country. The majority of them aren’t helping anybody but themselves. Dan Margulis told USA Today: People were outraged. They didn’t understand how someone could be so racist. Dan Margulis wasn’t trying to spark fights. He wanted to prove a point about immigration and Irish-American hypocrisy toward it. Margulis wanted to raise

Dan Gilbert Owned Amrock Title Hit With $706 Million Judgment By Texas Jury In Software Stealing Case Dan Gilbert-owned Amrock Title has been ordered to pay $706.2 million to a tech startup. A Texas jury found this week that Amrock had stolen trade secrets from a real estate data firm. The jury awarded HouseCanary $235.4 million for misappropriation of the trade secrets and fraud. The jury also awarded the company $471.4 million in punitive damages. The case stems from a 2015 contract between  Title Source , now known as Amrock and  HouseCanary . The contract was to develop software to provide appraisal and real estate valuations. Amrock CEO Jeff Eisenshtadt reacted like a typical  Gilbert Kool-Aid drinker . He called the verdict,  “a travesty of justice”  Additionally, Eisenshtadt sted: HouseCanary made several unkept promises leading us to file a contract claim. However, when we asked the court to intervene, a local attorney and professional plaintiff law firm spun a d

Michigan Priest Making $42,000 Financially Rapes Parishioners To Build $4 Million Dollar Mansion Michigan priest Jon Wehrle built a $4 Million home with money he pilfered from St. Martha’s Parish Michigan Priest Jon Wehrle is proud of his prowess as a builder. He especially proud of his $4 million masterpiece home in the rural outskirts of Lansing, Michigan. The two-story, stone-façade house has eight bedrooms and 12 bathrooms. It also has a library and a wine cellar. Like other luxury homes, it also has an indoor swimming pool and wood-paneled elevator. The 11,300-square-foot home boasts granite counter tops, limestone fireplaces, and walnut hardwood floors. In addition, Wehre installed crystal chandeliers and stained-glass windows. The Michigan priest also lived in the mansion. Local real estate brokers estimate the mansion was  worth $4 million . How could a priest from rural  Saint Martha’s Parish  who earned $42,000 a year afford this house? A house that even Pope Fr

Chase QuickPay With Zelle Is The Worst Money Transfer Service! Elephant Mating Takes Less Time! I had two different law firms I work with pay me through Chase QuickPay with Zelle in the past two weeks. It was not a very pleasant experience. Chase and Zelle advertise that the money will transfer in minutes. Yet, my experiences took days and were like the mating elephant joke: Getting things done around here is like mating elephants! Its done at a high level. Its accomplished by a great deal of screaming and roaring. And it takes two years to produce results! The first experience with Chase QuickPay was with an attorney who is also a  Chase customer. The transfer should have happened in under 5 minutes. Instead, it took Chase two days to process the request. It wasn't until the attorney who was paying me called Chase two days later to bitch that I finally received my money. Read more at MFI-Miami

David Rockefeller’s 75-acre New York estate sells for 50% MORE than its asking price The late David Rockefeller 1915-2017 David Rockefeller inherited a fortune from his oil baron grandfather. He made even more money as CEO of Chase Manhattan Bank.  Rockefeller passed away last  year at the grand old age of 101. Rockefeller left behind a grand estate worth over  $3.3 billion . The centerpiece was Hudson Pines. Rockefeller’s 75-acre estate in Westchester County, New York. The house sold last week for $33million. The property sold for 50% above its asking price of $22 million. David Rockefeller’s Hudson Valley retreat  was built from   recycled bricks from a New York City townhouse is and surrounded by trees and apple orchards. Hudson Pines sits next to the Rockefeller State Park Reserve. Rockefeller gave 1,000 acres of land he owned next to the park to the state of New York in 2015 to mark his 100th birthday. The state incorporated it into the protected area. Read more a

Real Estate Ponzi Scheme Operator  Seth DePiano Pleads Guilty To $24 Million Real Estate Scam California real estate Ponzi scheme operator pleaded guilty on Monday to  mail fraud and money laundering . Seth DePiano entered the guilty plea as part of a deal with the U.S. Attorney’s Office. DePiano admitted to defrauding investors of about $24 million and agreed to pay restitution to 28 investors. He also agreed to forfeit more than $700,000 in cash seized from bank accounts. In addition, the Ponzi scheme operator also agreed to give up his extensive baseball card collection valued at more than $31,000. DePiano faces a maximum of 20 years in federal prison for the mail and wire fraud charges. He also faces up to 10 years in prison for money laundering. Additionally, he faces a $250,000 fine. The government accused DePiano operating real estate Ponzi scheme from February 2010 through June 2017. DePiano lured real estate investors into giving him and his businesses more than

Disgraced Foreclosure King David Stern Sells Luxury South Beach Condo For $14.8 Million Disgraced Foreclosure King David Stern sold his South Beach condo for $14.8 million. It is now the top condo sale this year for Miami Beach. The deal closed on Thursday. Stern sold the unit for $3 million below asking price. Stern isn’t alone in taking a 20% hit on his luxury condo. The Miami market currently has a  48 month supply of luxury condos . The property at Apogee South Beach is owned by SF 800 Pointe LLC. The LLC is controlled by Stern’s attorney Forest McSurdy. The lucky new owner is John Vogelstein of New York. Vogelstein is chairman of New Providence Asset Management. He is also a senior adviser to Warburg Pincus. The 4,154-square-foot condo traded for $3,562 per square foot. Stern has had the unit on the market since he lost his law license. He was recently asking $17.9 million. Records also show investor  William Duker  sold the three-bedroom unit to Stern’s LLC for $12

Rumors Circulate On Wall Street That Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein Is Preparing To Sing So Long Farewell The  Wall Street Journal is reporting that Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein is preparing to sing So Long Farewell to Goldman Sachs. Blankfein has led the firm since 2006. He was also at the helm steering it through the 2008 financial crisis. From the WSJ report: Lloyd Blankfein is preparing to step down as Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s chief executive as soon as the end of the year, capping a more than 12-year run that has made him one of the longest-serving bosses on Wall Street. Goldman is likely to follow an announcement of Mr. Blankfein’s departure with a quick transfer of power and isn’t looking beyond Goldman’s two co-presidents, Harvey Schwartz and David Solomon, to replace him, people familiar with the matter said. The timing of any moves could still change, and the 63-year-old Mr. Blankfein is firmly in control of his exit, the people said. The curren

Miami Based Federal Prison Guard Michael Mazar Pleads Guilty In Sabatino Prison-Based Fraud Scheme Former federal prison guard  Michael Mazar  pled guilty to mail and wire fraud last week He orchestrated the scheme with an inmate from a Miami federal prison. Mazar was employed as a federal prison guard at the Federal Detention Center in Miami from July 2009 through April 2017. Mazar provided inmate James Sabatino with several cellular smartphones and other items in February of 2017. Sabatino is a wiseguy wannabe from New York and a   40-year-old   perennial inmate. Consequently, Sabatino contacted several retail and jewelry store employees and brand representatives with the telephones. He then pretended to be an employee of various film and music companies. He convinced the victims to send high-end to various locations in South Florida and elsewhere. Read more at MFI-Miami

Bank Of America Fined $2.2 Million For Discriminating Against 1000 Black Job Applicants It appears Bank of America is not the bank for all of Americans. The Federal Court ordered the bank to pay 1,147 African-American job applicants $2,181,593. The judge found that the company’s Charlotte office had racially discriminated against them. Judge Linda S. Chapman ruled that the bank used unfair and inconsistent selection criteria when it chose white applicants over black job applicants in 1993 and again between 2002 and 2005. In 1993, the Labor Department’s review showed evidence of systemic hiring discrimination against African Americans. African-American applicants applied for entry-level clerical and administrative positions. Read more at MFI-Miami

Did Michigan Taxpayers Pick Up The Tab For Judge Susan Jonas To Check Out Polynesian Beefcake In Hawai’i? Michigan Judge Susan Jonas went to a 5-day conference at the 5-star Fairmont Orchid resort on “The Big Island” of Hawai’i in September 2013. The American Judges Association sponsored the hush-hush conference. This conference was so hush-hush this may be the first of you have heard about it. After all, it took me four hours of research to find out the conference happened and then another two hours to find the schedule of speakers. Judges don’t like the public to know about retreats to 5-star resorts like this since many of them stick taxpayers with the bill. The trip is not showing up on any of Jonas’ campaign finance reports. Matter of fact, there is nothing on Judge Jonas’ campaign finance report. Judge Jonas has not raised a single dime for her judicial campaigns in over 16 years. She also has had no expenditures in over the last 16 years. Therefore, there are

NYPD Detective Michael Bonanno Engaged in a Bank Fraud Scheme With a Co-Conspirator According To DOJ The federal government has accused NYPD Detective Michael Bonanno of bank fraud. Bonanno is accused of bank fraud charges and aggravated identity theft. He and an accomplice orchestrated a scheme to use stolen bank account numbers to make payments on Bonanno's credit cards and mortgage. United States Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: Michael Bonanno who was a detective in the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers unit and his co-conspirator used victims’ bank account numbers in a scheme to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from New Yorkers. FBI Assistant Director William F. Sweeney Jr. also said: Plain and simple, Michael Bonanno allegedly used other people’s money to pay off his debts while simultaneously serving as a police officer. We don’t allow the general public to get away with these types of crimes and we won’t allow members of the law enforcement community

New York Attorney Allegedly Did Not Report More Than $3 Million He Embezzled From Deceased Client’s Estate New York Attorney Steven Etkind was indicted by the Department of Justice last week. The DOJ is accusing Etkind of conspiring to defraud the United States and tax evasion. Ironically, Etkind had a 5-star rating on the legal website Avvo . Etkind was a New York attorney and the head of tax, trusts, and estates group for Sadis & Goldberg in Manhattan. He was also a Certified Public Accountant.  The indictment alleges that Etkind performed legal work for a successful entrepreneur client who died in 2008. The client named Etkind as the co-executor of his $35 million estate. The client’s will directed the creation of charitable trusts funded with assets from the client’s estate. The funds were for the sole purpose of donating to charities including those assisting Jewish sponsored organizations. The estate also named Etkind as co-trustee of these trusts. Rea

Houston Homeowner Finds Remains Of Former Owner Mary Stewart Cerruti In A Wall Of The House Last summer a Houston homeowner found a surprise in the foreclosure he just purchased. No, it wasn't a missing Matisse painting or a rare draft of the Declaration of Independence. However, it was the remains of 61-year-old Mary Stewart Cerruti. Cerruti was the former owner who mysteriously disappeared in 2015. Cerruti's whereabouts have remained a mystery until last month. Harris County Coroner's Office identified the remains of Cerruti in January after identifying bones found inside the property. Police found no signs of trauma or foul play in what bones remained, although a great deal of evidence was victim to decay and animals. Law enforcement thinks she may have been up in the attic and fell through the attic floor. Read more at MFI-Miami

Real Estate Report Shows Miami Is Drowning In Luxury Condos. Market Has 4-Year Supply Of Luxury Condos. The bubble has finally popped on the Miami luxury condo market. Condo Vultures is reporting Miami-Dade County has a 4-year supply of luxury condos on the market right now. Condo Vultures Realty states there are nearly 2,800 units are on the market in Miami asking at least $1 million. Only 681 luxury units sold in the county in 2017 translates as a rate of about 57 units a month. Six months of supply of units generally makes for a balanced market. Anything over that suggests a buyer’s market. However, a 4-year supply means developers are drowning in inventory. Condo Vultures sounded alarms to developers and to real estate pros back in August. MFI-Miami has also seen an uptick in foreclosure activity on the South Florida luxury market as well. Condo Vultures also reports that only about 152 luxury condos are under contract for an average asking price of more tha