Two Florida men were sentenced in federal court last week to prison terms for mortgage fraud and four more were added to another federal mortgage fraud indictment, including a banker and an attorney.
From the Orlando Sentinel on those already sentenced:
Richard Nanan, a former loss-mitigation negotiator with Taylor, Bean & Whitaker, was sentenced to one year imprisonment for his role in a short-sale scheme, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
He pleaded guilty in December to a conspiracy charge.
Also sentenced Wednesday was Mark J. Moncher, owner of Dream Home Management, who had earlier pleaded guilty to a count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud.
He was sentenced to nearly five years imprisonment.
Federal prosecutors have said Nanan was part of a short-sale scheme with fellow Taylor, Bean & Whitaker employee Victor Cedeno.
Nanan and Cedeno worked with real-estate agents, homebuyers, lenders and title agents during sales financed by Taylor, Bean & Whitaker.
Nanan negotiated and approved short sales of foreclosed homes with mortgages for about 90 percent of the mortgage value of the properties. Then, prosecutors said, they falsely reported they approved the sales at about 80 percent of the mortgaged value.
And from the Palm Beach Post on the new indictees:
Included in the superseding indictment this week was Joseph Miller, 63, a Palm Beach Gardens attorney, Peter Hartofilis, 33, of New York, Robert Hofler, 52, a former vice president of First Southern Bank in Boca Raton and resident of Pembroke Pines, and Steve Vento, 41. Vento, formerly of Jupiter, is currently in prison on unrelated charges.
According to the indictment, Vitulano and Hartofilis were branch managers of the TopDot Mortgage office in Boca Raton.
Vento is alleged to have submitted two false loan applications to buy two houses worth more than $1 million each. Miller is alleged to have acted as closing agent and title agent on several of the transactions. The indictment says Hofler signed false verification of deposit forms.
More than $5 million for homes in Palm Beach and Broward counties was obtained with the false information between 2006 and 2007.
Russell Jay Williams, a Fort Lauderdale attorney representing Vitulano, said charges also should be filed against underwriters and banks that approved the loans.
“Bottom line is, everybody’s dirty in this,” he said. “It was like the wild, wild west out there.”
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