May 16, 2008 10:52 pm US/Eastern
11 Indicted In Large Scale Mortgage Fraud Ring
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
Eleven people have been indicted in a mortgage fraud scheme that netted at least $1.7 million in profits, federal authorities said Friday.
The suspects, including the manager of a real estate firm, loan brokers and attorneys, face various charges, including conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering and identity theft.
They allegedly submitted false information on mortgage loan applications from May 2005 to December 2006 and obtained $10.6 million in fraudulent mortgage loans, according to an indictment.
The indictment alleges that the suspects recruited straw borrowers and then obtained loans higher than the purchase prices of properties.
Authorities allege they pocketed the difference between the actual purchase price and the loan amount and also made money fraudulently through mortgage broker fees, attorney fees and real estate commissions.
The indictment alleges they made at least $1.7 million through the scheme.
Three people had their identities stolen and used as straw borrowers, the indictment said, including Judith Melody.
Melody said her name was on mortgages for three properties in Mattapan, Brockton and Halifax worth more than a million dollars.
"I work three days a week, and there is no way that I would have been granted a mortgage under any circumstance," Melody said.
Even though she filed the affadavits that cleared her in the fraud case, the mortgages were sold to other companies, victimizing her again.
One of the defendants, former attorney Eric Levine, was the focus of a
WBZ I-Team report, in which he denied any real estate scheme.
But Melody still pours over credit reports making sure no more mortgages appear.
"Maybe at some point this is really going to be over," she said. "Not yet but pretty soon."
The indictment alleges the suspects fraudulently bought and sold at least 21 properties in Boston, Cohasset, Quincy and Brockton.
The following people were named in the indictment: - Eric L. Levine, 55, a suspended attorney living in Brookline
- J. Daniel Lindley, 59, a practicing attorney living in Jamaica Plain
- Ernst Appolon, 28, a real estate and mortgage broker living in Braintree
- Andre Junior Lamerique, 25, a mortgage broker formally living in Sharon
- Widner Lamarre, 34, a mortgage broker living in Brockton
- Ralph Appolon, 27, a mortgage broker living in Watertown
- Daniel Appolon, 21, a mortgage company employee living in Massachusetts
- Jermaine Blake, 21, a mortgage broker living in Mattapan
- Jean Noriscat, 33, living in Quincy
- Samuel Jean-Louis, 23, living in Miami
- Latoya Haltiwanger, 26, a mortgage broker living in Los Angeles
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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