Christy Romero, Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP), and Preet Bharara, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, today announced the unsealing of charges against Ped Abghari, a/k/a “Ted Allen,” Dionysius Fiumano, a/k/a “D,” and Justin Romano for engaging in a mortgage modification scheme that defrauded over 8,000 …
NY officials vow attack on predatory debt-fixing (via The Dispatch)Federal authorities announced a crackdown Tuesday on predatory businesses that cheat “desperate and vulnerable” people harmed by the 2008 financial crisis with phony promises to consolidate their debt. U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara told a news conference that charges were brought against the owner and…
A loyal reader sent in a tip about a recent suit by the Manhattan U.S. Attorney against Wells Fargo Bank over mortgage fraud. Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Helen Kanovsky, General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”), and David A. Montoya, Inspector …
It’s annual pet scammer week! That’s a lie. But it sure feels like it. Eric Stein was charged with running an investment scam through Return-A-Pet LLC. Return-A-Pet was a New York company that allegedly facilitated the return of lost pets to their owners. Stein was out on supervised release for a previous investment fraud scheme …
On Wednesday of last week word broke about the largest insider trading scheme involving single stock charged to date. Three defendants have pled guilty and are cooperating with the government’s investigating a scheme that allegedly netted more than $61.8 million in illegal profits. Charges were announced against seven investment professionals, who worked at three different …
A complaint unsealed last Wednesday in Manhattan federal court charged Bo Zhang, a computer programmer, with stealing proprietary software code from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, where Zhang worked as a contract employee. Janice Fedarcyk, FBI assistant director-in-charge, stated: “Zhang took advantage of the access that came with his trusted position to steal …
Charges were announced last Thursday against seven members of an identity theft ring that allegedly used stolen identities of more than 180 people at major New York City retail stores including Home Depot, Sears, Kmart and Kohl’s, among others. The ring of fraudsters resold merchandise and gift cards for a profit after purchasing them under …
Last Thursday it was announced that Laurentiu Ilian Bulat was arrested yesterday for allegedly participating in a fraud ring that stole at least $1.5 million from HSBC customer bank accounts by installing “skimming” devices on more than 40 ATMs in Manhattan, Long Island, and Westchester, New York. According to the Complaint since May 2011, the …
James DeAngelis was sentenced last week to 57 months in prison for participation in a fraud investment scheme where he defrauded more than 15 victims out of $800,000. In May of 2011 DeAngelis pled guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, wire fraud, ad conspiracy to structure financial transactions to evade reporting requirements. …
It was recently announced that four defendants have been extradited from Israel on charges relating to their participation in multiple lottery telemarketing fraud schemes. The schemes targeted elderly victims in the United States and netted millions of dollars in profits. In July of 2009 three of the extradited defendants, Avi Ayache, Yaron Bar, and Ian …