Posted by John_NorCal on 10/11/07 1:47pm
Msg #216033
Speaking of thieves, here's a story I picked up....
Caught at Airport With Passport and Thousands in Cash
With the owners of his former company arrested on over 100 counts of fraud, the 25-year-old loan officer Sennett Swift was just about to board a flight at Sacramento International Airport carrying thousands of dollars in cash.
Swift missed his flight in favor of a rather one-sided conversation with some FBI agents.
Until his arrest last Friday, Swift had been a loan officer with First Liberty Financial in Sacramento, California.
Before he worked at First Liberty, Swift had been a loan processor at VFM Investment Group, where he had been trained by owner Jim Martin.
The 36-year-old Martin is one of four mortgage brokers and real estate agents indicted by a federal grand jury on more than a hundred counts of fraud.
Along with Martin, the 38-year-old Mario Fellini and the 34-year-old Joseph Gallo were charged with charges of making false statements on loan applications to Long Beach Mortgage Co., a subsidiary of Washington Mutual, and Fremont Investment and Loan.
The 44-year-old Gabriel Viramontes was indicted on mail fraud charges along with Martin and Fellini.
All were charged with bank fraud and conspiracy to launder money.
To commit the 2006 scheme, they also recruited six buyers to purchase the homes with no money down and empty promises to find renters to cover all the expenses, according to prosecutors.
The federal indictment claims that the buyers were falsely told that the renters would buy the homes after two years.
While the loan commissions and real estate fees for the transactions did appear for the defendants, none of the renters ever did, prosecutors said.
According to court papers, all but two of the 19 homes involved went into foreclosure.
The four men all pled guilty to the charges.
If convicted, they face up to 30 years in prison and fines up to $1 million each count of bank fraud.
Each count of mail fraud carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison, while money laundering can mean up to 10 years.
A lawsuit has been filed by the six recruited buyers seeking financial damages against the four defendants.
Following the indictment of the four men, Swift attempted to board a plane on an international flight that authorities say was an attempt to flee the country.
Swift remains in custody and is being held without bond as a potential flight risk.
Like his former associates, Swift has been charged with bank fraud and money laundering.
However, investigators say that the 25-year-old Swift also began preying on the elderly in a similar scheme upon leaving VFM Investment Group.
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