|
TRENTON – Attorney
General Paula T. Dow and Criminal Justice
Director Stephen J. Taylor today announced
that a Union County mortgage loan solicitor
has been charged with conspiring with others
– including a Kearny woman who was
charged previously – in a scheme to
steal millions of dollars by obtaining mortgage
loans using false identities and counterfeit
documents.
According to Director Taylor,
Nuno J. Sousa, 34, of Elizabeth, was arrested
yesterday (Aug. 11) by detectives of the
Division of Criminal Justice Major Crimes
Bureau as a result of an ongoing investigation
into the conspiracy. The Elizabeth Police
assisted in the arrest. He was charged by
complaint with first-degree conspiracy,
first-degree money laundering, second-degree
securities fraud and second-degree theft
by deception. He is being held in jail with
bail set at $200,000.
Sousa is charged in connection
with an alleged conspiracy that also included
Genilza R. Nunes, 36, of Kearny, who was
arrested by the Division of Criminal Justice
on March 9. She was charged by complaint
with the same offenses. Those charges are
pending, and she is being held in jail with
bail set at $2 million.
The state investigation
determined that Nunes, Sousa and a number
of co-conspirators allegedly were involved
in a sophisticated, multi-million dollar
mortgage loan fraud scheme operating in
northern New Jersey, including Morris, Somerset,
Hudson, Union, Passaic and Essex Counties.
The state has specifically alleged that
Nunes and Sousa – with Sousa acting
as the mortgage loan solicitor – engaged
in fraudulent transactions involving five
properties, with a total fraud of $2,152,800.
However, it is believed that the scheme
is much larger.
The investigation is being
conducted and coordinated by Detective Sgt.
Louis A. Matirko and Deputy Attorney General
Marysol Rosero of the Division of Criminal
Justice Major Crimes Bureau. The investigation
is continuing and additional charges are
anticipated.
Sousa, a mortgage loan solicitor
who was associated with Castle Home Mortgage
Corporation of Union, allegedly helped obtain,
prepare, authenticate, and submit false
mortgage loan application forms and false
supporting financial documents to lenders
on behalf of straw buyers between Nov. 1,
2008 and June 4, 2009. In his capacity as
a mortgage loan representative, Sousa allegedly
was also able to obtain and submit inflated
and inaccurate appraisal reports to the
victim lenders, who relied on the accuracy
of the appraisals in approving the loans.
The state alleges Nunes
was responsible for cultivating and creating
straw buyers, including real and fake persons,
for the purpose of engaging in the scheme.
Nunes allegedly was one of the people responsible
for creating phony documents in support
of mortgage applications, including false
identification cards, fraudulent financial
documents, inflated real estate appraisals,
altered real estate transfer documents,
and fraudulent government documents, including
U.S. passports and numerous state motor
vehicle licenses. Nunes and others involved
in the scheme used false names and the fraudulent
documents to disguise their true identities.
Nunes, Sousa and their co-conspirators
allegedly defrauded numerous lending institutions
of millions of dollars through what is known
as a “short sale mortgage loan property
flip scheme.” A “short sale”
is a type of pre-foreclosure sale of real
estate where the lender holding the mortgage
agrees to permit the property to be sold
for a price less then the amount due on
the mortgage loan. Short sales have become
more prevalent due to the recent economic
downturn.
In this case, individuals
involved in the scheme were purchasing the
properties as straw buyers, using false
identities supported by counterfeit driver’s
licenses, false financial records, and fictitious
credit histories. Through a series of fraudulent
transactions, the short sale properties
were then sold or “flipped”
at inflated values derived from fraudulent
appraiser reports. A second straw buyer
applied for a mortgage loan on the inflated
property and obtained the loan under a false
identity. The short sale property was then
purchased with the loan proceeds, and, by
design, the straw buyer made no payments
on the loan, causing a loan default.
Because the straw buyer
used a false identity, the lending institution
was unable to locate the borrower. The difference
between the sales price for the short sale
transaction and the inflated loan obtained
represented the net proceeds of the fraudulent
scheme. Typically Nunes, Sousa and their
co-conspirators obtained $100,000 to $300,000
per transaction.
The fraudulent enterprise
allegedly included other licensed and unlicensed
professionals, including real estate agents,
mortgage loan brokers, real estate appraisers,
notaries, lawyers, straw buyers and counterfeit
document makers.
First-degree crimes carry
a maximum sentence of 20 years in state
prison and a $200,000 fine, while second-degree
crimes carry a maximum sentence of 10 years
in state prison and a $150,000 fine. The
first-degree money laundering charges carry
a period of parole ineligibility equal to
one-third to one-half of the prison sentence
imposed and a fine of up to $500,000.
The complaints are merely
accusations and the defendants are presumed
innocent until proven guilty. Because Sousa
and Nunes are charged with indictable offenses,
the charges will be presented to a grand
jury for potential indictment.
###
|
