Police Sting Nets 2 Men In 'Red-Hot Mortgage Fraud'

[Francois K. Gregoire]

Hi All,

Latest in a series from Tampa Tribune Ace reporter, Shannon Behnken:

http://www.tbo.com/news/metro/MGBXGDH4QVE.html
Police Sting Nets 2 Men In 'Red-Hot Mortgage Fraud'

By SHANNON BEHNKEN The Tampa Tribune
TAMPA - The FBI and local authorities arrested two people Wednesday during a sting at a local title agency, part of a "red-hot mortgage fraud scheme" playing out across the country.

Anthony Capsouto, 36, a Nevada mortgage broker, and Muhammed Sekertekin, 29, an illegal immigrant from Turkey, were arrested during a settlement closing in Tampa, the Tampa Police Department said Thursday.

The men were trying to obtain a fraudulent mortgage in Sekertekin's name on a home at 811 Golf Island Drive, Apollo Beach. The men wanted to inflate the recorded sales price of the house from $690,000 to $910,000. At closing, $210,000 was to be paid back to a company started last month by Sekertekin.........

......Bartoszak said the FBI has not interviewed the appraisal company that valued the home at the higher price that authorities think was inflated.

 

[Mike Kennedy]

As in cases investigated by the newspaper, a real estate agent was asked to inflate the value of the property in the Multiple Listing Service, a database of home listings.

......Bartoszak said the FBI has not interviewed the appraisal company that valued the home at the higher price that authorities think was inflated.

There's always hope......... lock em all up.

 

[Carnivore]

......Bartoszak said the FBI has not interviewed the appraisal company that valued the home at the higher price that authorities think was inflated.

There's always hope.

Its very possible that the appraisal company informed on the Fraudsters!

When the word gets out, that should send a chill down the mortgage fraud hacks spine that the appraiser just may be an FBI informant.

Does everyone see the NEW way to make a difference for your profession. heh heh, put that word on the street!!! Professional informant.

 

[Francois K. Gregoire]

Its very possible that the appraisal company informed on the Fraudsters!

When the word gets out, that should send a chill down the mortgage fraud hacks spine that the appraiser just may be an FBI informant.

Does everyone see the NEW way to make a difference for your profession. heh heh, put that word on the street!!! Professional informant.

Andrew,

In this case, I suspect the Title Insurance Company provided the tip. Although I've not confirmed things with the individual, a former student of mine is an officer with a well known, national Title Insurance Company. This individual and I have been talking regularly since the Tampa Tribune series on mortgage fraud started. The company officer informed me of the number of suspect deals on their desk and their desire to see the perps locked up. The idea was to stage a sting.

Contacts were provided to the Title Insurance Company officer, but I purposely stayed out of any further involvement. It looks like, thankfully, they were able to pull it off.

Local Appraisers were involved in calling attention to the deals that were the subject of the initial Shannon Behnken story, however. REALTORS® in the Tampa Bay Area are becoming very aware of this problem and the Federal interest and presence. Yesterday, I presented a program on Mortgage Fraud at the local Association of REALTORS®. About 100 attended. Many questions followed the presentation and quite a few concerned faces.

Here's a link to the Power Point presentation:

http://realtor411.tampabayrealtor.com/UserFiles/File/How%20Does%20Mortgage%20Fraud%20Affect%20You.swf

The audio should be posted on the site sometime next week. It should be at this link:

http://realtor411.tampabayrealtor.com/

At the conclusion of the presentation, the Association Executive mentioned more than one local broker has called to let her know they have had visits from the Secret Service. One was asked to permit examination of 2000 transactions!

 

[Pamela Crowley (Florida)]

Nice job Frank!!!!!!

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

In these frauds, the appraiser is often duped by being told that 'upgrades' will come in the form of landscaping, granite cabinets, pool, etc...Items that never get done really but the money is escrowed and paid out to companies like the Turkish guy above had set up....the appraisals are 'subject to'