MFI-Miami Blog

Feds Allege Colombian Banker Laundered Money He Thought Was Drug Money  The federal court in Brooklyn has arraigned a Colombian Banker from Barranquilla, Colombia. The indictment charges Jaime Alberto Giraldo Alzate with money laundering and money laundering conspiracy.  Alzate allegedly laundered over $200,000 for undercover law enforcement agents as a Foreign Commercial Business Manager at a bank in Colombia.   United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Richard P. Donoghue Stated: The defendant corruptly abused his position as a bank employee to launder money for undercover agents he believed were narcotics traffickers. I commend the outstanding investigative work by IRS undercover agents that led to the arrest of the defendant. The government claims Alzate also boasted he had been laundering drug proceeds for years. Read more at MFI-Miami

AIME Accuses Quicken Loans And Other Major Retail Lenders Of Scamming Veterans On VA Loans The mortgage trade group AIME is claiming that Quicken Loans and other lenders are taking advantage of VA borrowers. Association of Independent Mortgage Experts CEO Anthony Casa alleges lenders are overcharging them for their mortgages. and overcharging them for their mortgages. HUD, Ginnie Mae, and the VA are investigating lenders. The government is investigating the lenders for targeting service members and veterans for quick and potentially risky refinance deals. The investigation has led to some lenders being  booted  from Ginnie Mae’s primary mortgage securities platforms. In addition, some lenders are also  being restricted  for questionable conduct. Casa accuses lenders of charging veterans as much as 20% higher for a mortgage in a  lengthy post on LinkedIn The AIME CEO also names the culprits. Casa accuses Quicken Loans, Movement Mortgage, loanDepot, and Fairway Independent

SCAM ALERT! Lenders Are Pulling A Scam With Nassau County Reverse Mortgages. What You Need To Know! It seems like Reverse Mortgage servicing companies are pulling a fast one on unsuspecting seniors with Nassau County Reverse Mortgages. They are showing no shame in doing it either.  Reverse mortgages are great because they give seniors who are house rich and cash poor needed cash. Local taxes and any HOA fees are still the responsibility of the homeowner. Servicers can and will foreclosure if the taxes are not paid. Reverse mortgages are great for most seniors. Unfortunately, reverse mortgage servicing companies have figured out how to cash in by screwing equity rich seniors with Nassau County Reverse Mortgages.  Champion Mortgage  and  Reverse Mortgage Solutions appear to be the biggest culprits in this scam.  Read more at MFI-Miami

SCAM ALERT! Lenders Are Pulling A Scam With Brooklyn Reverse Mortgages. What You Need To Know! It seems like Reverse Mortgage servicing companies are pulling a fast one on unsuspecting seniors with Brooklyn Reverse Mortgages. They are showing no shame in doing it either.  Reverse mortgages are great because they give seniors who are house rich and cash poor needed cash. Local taxes and any HOA fees are still the responsibility of the homeowner. Servicers can and will foreclosure if the taxes are not paid. Reverse mortgages are great for most seniors. Unfortunately, reverse mortgage servicing companies have figured out how to cash in by screwing equity rich seniors with Brooklyn Reverse Mortgages.  Champion Mortgage  and  Reverse Mortgage Solutions appear to be the biggest culprits in this scam.  Read more at MFI-Miami

SCAM ALERT! Lenders Are Pulling A Scam With Queens Reverse Mortgages. What You Need To Know! It seems like Reverse Mortgage servicing companies are pulling a fast one on unsuspecting seniors with Queens Reverse Mortgages. They are showing no shame in doing it either.  Reverse mortgages are great because they give seniors who are house rich and cash poor needed cash. Local taxes and any HOA fees are still the responsibility of the homeowner. Servicers can and will foreclosure if the taxes are not paid. Reverse mortgages are great for most seniors. Unfortunately, reverse mortgage servicing companies have figured out how to cash in by screwing equity rich seniors with Queens Reverse Mortgages.  Champion Mortgage  and  Reverse Mortgage Solutions  appear to be the biggest culprits in this scam.  Read more at MFI-Miami

Facebook And Google Paid $122 Million Worth Of Phony Bills To European Facebook Scammer  A Facebook scammer from Lithuania pleaded guilty to wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and money-laundering charges last week. Evaldas Rimasauskas admitted to bilking $99 million from Facebook and $23 million from Google from 2013 through 2015. Rimasauskas sent the companies bogus invoices that they honored and paid out. Evaldas Rimasauskas’ scam  was also extremely brazen. He spoofed emails from executives at the companies. He also sent forged invoices and contracts that appeared to have been executed and signed by executives. The invoices and contracts bore false corporate stamps embossed with the names company executives. The Facebook scammer submitted the invoices to two banks that handle the accounts for the two companies. The banks then transmitted the money via wire transfer. No one at Facebook or Google checked to see if the invoices and purchase orders were legitimate. Ri

An Oregon Landlord Claims The Brother of Meghan Markle Is a Freeloader Thomas Markle after being arrested for DUI in January. The brother of Meghan Markle  is being evicted from his home for non-payment of rent. Thomas Markle and his fiancée Darlene Blount are accused of falling three months behind on rent on the bungalow in Grants Pass, Oregon. The market rate for the property is around $1,200 a month. Markle allegedly owes $4,500 in late rent, fees, and court costs. Exasperated landlord Paul Walter also said during court that Markle kept giving him empty promises about bringing the balance current. Walter also said that he had never gone through this with other tenants.  Markle and Blount must leave the $287,000 bungalow by the end of the day on April 5th as a result of a court-approved settlement. Walter also said Markle owed him $4,500 for the rent in January, February, and March. Read more at MFI-Miami

Former Michigan House Leader Signed Off On Deal To Have Taxpayers Pay Porn Addict $250,000 In Hush Money Guess what Michigan? The Michigan GOP House leadership used your tax dollars to pay $250,000 in hush money to a porn addict. You are also on the hook for this guy’s legal bills for the rest of his life. All because two naive and idealistic Tea Party Republicans didn’t want to go along with the corrupt and broken status quo of Michigan GOP politics in the legislature. It seems like a long time since the  sex scandal  involving former Michigan State Representatives Todd Courser and Cindy Gamrat made headlines. Stories of Courser and Gamrat’s torrent sensual lust and backseat gropefests in Gamrat’s Ford Explorer made international headlines. The  hot and steamy romance and the scandal  it created filled Michigan newspapers for months. Michigan media focused on the easy story of two politicians having backseat gropefests and secret rendezvouses. However, it appears the main

Debt Restructuring Scammer Sergiy Bezrukov Pleads Guilty To Money Laundering And Bank Fraud Sergiy Bezrukov  pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and money laundering  last week for operating a debt restructuring scheme. He’s facing a maximum penalty of 35 years in prison and a $1,000,000 fine. The debt restructuring scammer had two offices in the Western New York area to operate fraudulent debt restructuring businesses. Bezrukov and others sent solicitation letters under fictitious names offering small businesses with restructuring high-interest loans. Bezrukov and others would withdraw sums of money from the clients’ bank accounts but never repaid any of the business’s loans on their behalf. When the small business owners would inquire about the status of the restructuring, they would receive no response from Bezrukov or the bogus company. Bezrukov’s operation in Salamanca, NY got the attention of law enforcement who launched an investigation. As a result, f

Former Chief Operating Officer Of A Long Island Federal Credit Union Pleads Guilty to Embezzlement Former Long Island Federal Credit Union COO Suzanne Silva pleaded guilty to embezzling $465,172 during her employment. Silva was the former COO of Winthrop University Hospital Employees Federal Credit Union (Winthrop University HEFCU)   The 35-year-old Silva pleaded guilty before United States District Judge Denis R. Hurley. As a result, Silva faces up to 30 years in prison. She is also responsible for paying restitution of $465,172 and a fine of up to $1 million. United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Richard P. Donoghue and William F. Sweeney, Jr., Assistant FBI Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office announced the guilty plea: Silva has admitted that she abused her authority as COO by stealing funds from the Credit Union for personal travel and shopping sprees. Today’s guilty plea sends the message that those who engage in such criminal conduct

Michigan Mother Tara Lynn Lee Indicted For Wire Fraud Related To Multiple Fraudulent Adoption Scams  A federal grand jury returned an indictment on March 7, 2019, charging Tara Lynn Lee with eighteen counts of wire fraud. Lee allegedly operated an adoption scam using bogus corporate entities. Lee operated in Michigan under the name Always Hope Pregnancy and Education Center. The State of Michigan never issued a license to Lee or her corporate entities to facilitate adoptions.  Yet, Lee repeatedly paired birth mothers with adoptive parents from 2014 to 2018. furthermore, Lee represented herself to adoptive parents as a licensed social worker with a legitimate adoption agency. The indictment sets forth specific allegations of wire fraud. On several occasions, Lee matched adoptive parents to a birth mother. Other times, Lee also matched adoptive parents with birth mothers that did not exist. She also matched adoptive parents with women were not pregnant or had not decided to

Miami CPA Darryl Sharpton Gets 39 Months In Federal Prison For $1.4 Million Tax Evasion Scheme United States Attorney Ariana Fajardo Orshan for the Southern District of Florida announced Miami CPA Darryl Sharpton is  going to prison  for 39 months for tax evasion. Orshan stated: Darryl Sharpton defrauded the federal government to avoid paying his own taxes as well as taxes withheld from his employees’ pay. Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Chief Don Fort (IRS-CI) stated: Today’s sentencing is an important victory for American taxpayers who play by the rules and have no tolerance for those who fail to pay their fair share. IRS-CI will continue to investigate and recommend prosecution for individuals such as Mr. Sharpton who ignore the law and shun their tax responsibilities. Read more at MFI-Miami

HUD Denies Lender Claims They Are Denying FHA Loans To DACA Dreamers  FHA and HUD are denying claims they are denying government-insured loans to DACA Dreamers. HUD told HousingWire  earlier this week  that their policies have not changed in regard to mortgages to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients. Yet, multiple lenders and mortgage industry participants say HUD seems to be saying one thing and doing another. Lenders say they’ve received direct statements from HUD stating that DACA Dreamers are no longer eligible for FHA mortgages. One lender passed along a message that appears to be from a HUD employee who states that C-33 visa holders (DACA Dreamers) do not meet FHA guidelines. HUD justifies this by saying DACA status does not grant legal residency in the United States. Another lender claims FHA told them point blank that DACA Dreamers are not eligible for FHA mortgages. Read more at MFI-Miami

Suburban Detroit Woman Runs Million Dollar Cell Phone Fencing Operation In Motor City Casino Parking Deck The dark recesses of the Motor City Casino parking deck are home a major Detroit cell phone fencing operation. On nearly a daily basis, a woman with the street name “Crystal” hands off thousands of dollars of brand new iPhones to a middle eastern male employee of the casino. The gentleman then unblocks the phones and then re-sells them on the internet at a discount or ships them overseas. As a result, the scam has cost cell phone carriers and local retailers millions of dollars. How The Motor City Casino Phone Fencing Operation Works Charlette Leshawndes Gibbs aka “Crystal” Charlette Leshawndes Gibbs aka “Crystal” is a regular fixture in some of Detroit’s most notorious drug houses. She can regularly be seen hanging out at the gas stations along State Fair Road between I-75 and John R Road. Why would an overweight black woman from the suburbs hang out in a neig

Crackpot HUD Secretary Ben Carson Sings, “So Long, Farewell” To Politics And Government   Crackpot HUD Secretary Ben Carson revealed he intends to leave his post at the end of President Trump’s first term. Carson made the comments on the conservative news outlet Newsmax TV. Carson said he is eyeing a position in the private sector. He told The Washington Post: I will certainly finish out this term. President Trump picked Carson to lead the department in 2016. The crackpot HUD Secretary came under  scrutiny  for federal ethics rules last year. He appointed his son to lead a “listening tour” in Baltimore. A former HUD staffer accused Carson of excessively spending taxpayer dollars on lavish furnishings to  redecorate his office . HUD has also been criticized for halting fair housing and discrimination rules. Carson also came under fire last year for saying he believes there is a nefarious plot by socialist perverts to destroy President Trump. Read more at MFI-Miami

Was There Quid Pro Quo Deal Made For The Michigan AG To Drop A Criminal Investigation Of Lapeer Circuit Court Judge Nick Holowka?  Lapeer County Judge Nick Holowka seems to like the perks of his job as Chief Judge. So much so, he thinks the rules don’t apply to him. Holowka’s abuse of power was so flagrant, former Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette launched an investigation into Holowka’s behavior.  Judge Holowka repeatedly used taxpayer-funded automobiles for his personal use. He also used county dumpsters to dump his personal trash from home. It seems like the Holowka doesn’t have trash service at his home in Imlay City. The big question is why Judge Holowka would abuse county resources like this. Is he a stingy tightwad or does he not know how to manage money? Can Holowka not afford to pay for a rental car or trash service on his salary of $140,000 a year? These would be logical assumptions. However, Holowka also owns a $5.8 million waterfront house free and clear i

New York Man Found Tied Up In His Truck Faked His Own Kidnapping To Avoid Paying Super Bowl Bets A New York man found tied up in his pickup truck allegedly faked his own abduction. Police believe Robert Brandell didn’t have the funds to pay off $50,000 he owed in a Super Bowl pool. New York State troopers responded to reports of a male restrained inside a vehicle at a parking lot 30 miles outside of Buffalo. Police arrived on the scene and discovered Robert Brandel in the back seat. Brandel was found tied up with a rope tied around his neck attached to the headrest with his hands and ankles bound with duct tape. Brandel claimed he picked up two men who were involved in his Super Bowl Squares. Once they were inside his vehicle, the men whipped out a pistol and robbed him of $16,000 in cash he earned in his Super Bowl. Brandel also stated that the men forced him to drive around for several days before abandoning him. They then tied him up and left him in a parking lot. Rea

Former Detroit Land Bank Spokesman Craig Fahle Convicted For Driving Drunk And Cocaine Possession  Former Detroit Land Bank spokesman Craig Fahle was convicted after being busted for driving drunk and cocaine possession in his pocket. The court sentenced Fahle to one year of probation and community service. Fahle was a longtime public radio personality on WDET who resigned as the spokesman of the Detroit Land Bank last year. Grosse Pointe Park Police stopped Fahle for speeding and tailgating a police car in Grosse Pointe Park on November 9th. The former Detroit Land Bank spokesman’s blood-alcohol level was nearly three times the legal limit to drive when he Police also found a small baggie in his pocket that tested positive for cocaine. Fahle spent three days in jail after his arrest. He was charged with drunk driving and a felony count of cocaine possession as a result of the arrest. Wayne County prosecutors reduced Fahle’s drug charge from a felony to a misdemeanor as p