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Four Indicted In $3M Mortgage Fraud Scheme
Posted on Thursday, 21 of May , 2009 at 7:26 pm
NEW YORK—A six count indictment has been filed against four individuals associated with MTC Real Estate Inc., charging them with perpetrating a $3 million mortgage fraud.
Lavette M. Bills, 36, of Briarcliff Manor; Kirk Lacey, 36, of Pembroke Pines, Fla.; Omar Henry, 26, of The Bronx and Peter Chevere, 21, also of The Bronx, were charged with engaging in a mortgage fraud scheme involving loans totaling over $3 million on at least six different residences.
Bills and Lacey were previously charged in a criminal complaint filed in
Manhattan federal court on March 17. Henry and Chevere surrendered to authorities this week.
Bills was the chief executive officer of MTC Real Estate, Inc., in the Bronx, and Lacey, Henry and Chevere all worked for MTC during various periods between 2008 and in or about March 2009. Bills targeted homeowners who had fallen behind on their mortgage payments and whose homes were facing foreclosure by running radio advertisements and appearing on radio programs representing that she was a foreclosure specialist and had the ability to keep a home from going into foreclosure.
Prosecutors say Bills and Lacey were then able to convince some of these homeowners to sell or transfer their homes to BILLS or to a company Bills controlled, NNI, LLC. This was usually done via a “short sale,” in which the lender agreed to sell the property for less than the balance owed on the loan and to discharge the remainder of the loan. In at least one case, involving a residence on Tinton Avenue in the Bronx, Bills allegedly convinced the homeowner to place Bills’ name on the deed to the house and to “gift” the equity in the house to Bills in return for Bills’ fraudulent promise to transfer the house back to a relative of the homeowner.
However, without the knowledge of either the lenders who approved the short sales, or of the selling homeowners, Bills and Lacey or their co-conspirators allegedly “flipped” the properties to third-party straw buyers at a higher price, usually on the same day or within a short period of time. The sales price in the second transactions–the “flips” — was often significantly higher–typically by $150,000 or more — than the short sale price, yet the homeowners typically received little or
no money from the sale of their homes.
To accomplish this, Bills and Lacey deceived both the straw buyers and the lenders who were providing the mortgages to finance the purchases. In some instances, the straw buyers thought that they were helping the homeowner “save” his or her home from foreclosure, or they were told that they were purchasing an investment property. The straw buyers were also often told that they would not need to make mortgage payments on the property, either because the payments would be made on their behalf, or because the payments would be covered by the rental income from the property.
The defendants allegedly convinced lenders to give the straw buyers mortgages to purchase properties the straw buyers could not otherwise afford by falsifying certain personal and financial information about the straw buyers.
For example, the defendants prepared and submitted to the lenders documents containing false statements about the straw buyers’ employment, income, and assets.
As a result of their fraud, the defendants allegedly profited from their “flips” of the properties; the homeowners lost title to their homes; the straw buyers became liable on hundreds of thousands of dollars they were unable to repay; and the lenders suffered losses from those loans, which eventually went into default.
Each defendant is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud. In addition, Bills is charged with three counts of bank fraud, one count of wire fraud, and one count of false statements; Lacey is charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of bank fraud; and Henry and Chevere are charged with one count of bank fraud.
The indictment also seeks forfeiture of the alleged proceeds obtained from the charged offenses. 5-21-09
Posted on Thursday, 21 of May , 2009 at 7:26 pm
NEW YORK—A six count indictment has been filed against four individuals associated with MTC Real Estate Inc., charging them with perpetrating a $3 million mortgage fraud.
Lavette M. Bills, 36, of Briarcliff Manor; Kirk Lacey, 36, of Pembroke Pines, Fla.; Omar Henry, 26, of The Bronx and Peter Chevere, 21, also of The Bronx, were charged with engaging in a mortgage fraud scheme involving loans totaling over $3 million on at least six different residences.
Bills and Lacey were previously charged in a criminal complaint filed in
Manhattan federal court on March 17. Henry and Chevere surrendered to authorities this week.
Bills was the chief executive officer of MTC Real Estate, Inc., in the Bronx, and Lacey, Henry and Chevere all worked for MTC during various periods between 2008 and in or about March 2009. Bills targeted homeowners who had fallen behind on their mortgage payments and whose homes were facing foreclosure by running radio advertisements and appearing on radio programs representing that she was a foreclosure specialist and had the ability to keep a home from going into foreclosure.
Prosecutors say Bills and Lacey were then able to convince some of these homeowners to sell or transfer their homes to BILLS or to a company Bills controlled, NNI, LLC. This was usually done via a “short sale,” in which the lender agreed to sell the property for less than the balance owed on the loan and to discharge the remainder of the loan. In at least one case, involving a residence on Tinton Avenue in the Bronx, Bills allegedly convinced the homeowner to place Bills’ name on the deed to the house and to “gift” the equity in the house to Bills in return for Bills’ fraudulent promise to transfer the house back to a relative of the homeowner.
However, without the knowledge of either the lenders who approved the short sales, or of the selling homeowners, Bills and Lacey or their co-conspirators allegedly “flipped” the properties to third-party straw buyers at a higher price, usually on the same day or within a short period of time. The sales price in the second transactions–the “flips” — was often significantly higher–typically by $150,000 or more — than the short sale price, yet the homeowners typically received little or
no money from the sale of their homes.
To accomplish this, Bills and Lacey deceived both the straw buyers and the lenders who were providing the mortgages to finance the purchases. In some instances, the straw buyers thought that they were helping the homeowner “save” his or her home from foreclosure, or they were told that they were purchasing an investment property. The straw buyers were also often told that they would not need to make mortgage payments on the property, either because the payments would be made on their behalf, or because the payments would be covered by the rental income from the property.
The defendants allegedly convinced lenders to give the straw buyers mortgages to purchase properties the straw buyers could not otherwise afford by falsifying certain personal and financial information about the straw buyers.
For example, the defendants prepared and submitted to the lenders documents containing false statements about the straw buyers’ employment, income, and assets.
As a result of their fraud, the defendants allegedly profited from their “flips” of the properties; the homeowners lost title to their homes; the straw buyers became liable on hundreds of thousands of dollars they were unable to repay; and the lenders suffered losses from those loans, which eventually went into default.
Each defendant is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud. In addition, Bills is charged with three counts of bank fraud, one count of wire fraud, and one count of false statements; Lacey is charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of bank fraud; and Henry and Chevere are charged with one count of bank fraud.
The indictment also seeks forfeiture of the alleged proceeds obtained from the charged offenses. 5-21-09
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