South Florida Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog
In a blatant anti-Semitism attack on a Miami Beach synagogue, a man lit some wood pallets on fire resulting in a intense fire contained to the garage of the building. Officials say if they arrived minutes later, it could have ripped through the main area of the building. Not more than a week ago another anti-Semetic attack occurred at a local rabbi’s house in Miami Beach. Miraculous in timing, a day earlier the synagogue where the fire took place had a camera installed. The camera got the arsonist smoking a cigarette yet reports show inconclusive evidence as to how he ignited the fire exactly. No arrests have been made yet according to a detective of the Miami Beach police department.
Florida Gang Members Arrested, Community Joyous
14 individuals of the Winter Garden-based Westside gang were apprehended recently in a gang arrest initiative created by local law enforcement in the Central Florida area drug unit. This particular gang was responsible for millions of dollars in value of drugs being shipped into the Central Florida area for over 10 years. Severe jail sentences loom over the heads of these criminals caught and for good reason. The gang has been linked to many cases of witness intimidation and money laundering by the use of several business fronts in the Winter Garden area. Drug sales were hidden at these discreet locations in order to cover their money trails and police heat. Bales upon bales of marijuana and cocaine were seized at several of the sites where arrests took place.
South Florida Jamaican Gets Mortgage Fraud Charges
Yvette Scott Patterson appeared in court recently in connections with a mortgage fraud operation. She fled the country to Jamaica, trying to avoid being detained. Her business front used fraudulent bank statement, fake employment verifications, stolen drivers licenses and other false documents in order to secure loans for the homes purchased by the company during the real estate boom.
The Magistrate in charge of her case will determine by the end of the week whether Patterson will be eligible for bond. Originally when Patterson was apprehended in Jamaica, she waved her right to fight extradition back to the United States.
Florida Drug Warrants and Seizures Spike in Polk County
Numerous drug growing houses were targeted in Polk County. Officials say these marijuana-cultivating houses are a problem for the community for a multitude of reasons. One obvious reason is the fact that they are growing points and primary centers where drugs enter the market. Secondly, the guns and cash usually found at these houses are a target for criminal activity besides the fact of the drug growing.
Many of the charges facing the criminals arrested in the entire operation ranged from trafficking in cannabis and cultivation of cannabis to maintaining a dwelling for drug trafficking and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Florida at the Center of a Cocaine Ring
Dennis A. Bell, Jr., 28, has been charged with conspiracy to traffic cocaine from Florida to London. He will face up to 30 years in prison, six years of supervised release, a maximum fine of $2 million and a required payment of $100 at the close of the proceedings. By pleading guilty to the charges, as a first time offender, he got one of the charges waived and the first two pleaded out. The right to vote will no longer be something Mr. Bell can do. Oh, boo hoo. Bell along with the 2 other conspirators were arrested by London Police last May. Bell was the only one of the three with a valid driver license.
Florida Attorney Discusses Penalties on Bullies
After an incident at a middle school in Florida where a 13 year old was raped, critics and lawyers say the laws have been softened regarding bullying. The Jeffrey Johnston Stand Up for All Students Act requires schools in Florida to establish concrete policies to discourage bullying in person and online or risk losing state funding. Lawyers to the raped individual aforementioned have claimed that if the law on the books had been enforced in the school, the incident would not have even occurred.
Mortgage Fraud Florida and SEC Poised to Indict
Angelo Mozilo is in hot water with mortgage fraud charges and civil lawsuits in 4 states, Florida included. Mozilo’s Countrywide Financial is just one of the many mortgage brokerages under fire for profiting and conductive illegal activity during the recently devastating boom and bust. Last July, Bank of America, for $2.5 billion, bought Countrywide with Mozilo leaving soon after the completion of the deal.
A white collar offense can also lead to civil lawsuits filed by the government or the persons who were allegedly victimized by the crime. Unlike in a criminal case, the accused in a civil lawsuit does not have the right to remain silent, and they may be obligated to testify at their own trial. An attorney will not be appointed for them if they cannot afford one on their own.
Mortgage Fraud and Florida Prosecution: Part 9
Attorney Behr’s mortgage fraud prosecutions series continues with the following EXCERPT:
18 U.S.C. § 2314 Transportation of stolen goods, securities, moneys, fraudulent State tax stamps, or articles used in counterfeiting
Under this statute, a person who enables assists or intends to enable property with a value of $5,000.00 or more into interstate commerce or foreign commerce by a scheme enabled through the use of material misrepresentations could be convicted under the statute.89
In United States v. Grintjes, 237 F.3d 876, 877 (7th Cir. 2001), the defendant a mortgage broker and his co-defendant Thomas Younk, a client who owned a real estate company allegedly obtained “…inflated appraisals of properties, use the inflated appraisals to obtain mortgages, purchase the properties for significantly less than the amount of the mortgage, and pocket the rest of the loan.”90 The defendant was indicted for “…aiding and abetting a fraudulent scheme involving the interstate transfer of funds… ”91 “Grintjes testified that he never independently inspected the properties Younk sought to finance, nor did he ever verify the appraisals.”92 He also testified that it was not uncommon in the mortgage broker industry not to inspect verify the appraisals.93
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Any use of the previous article requires written permission from AttorneyRalph Behr and from this website and its subsidiaries under State and Federal Law. DO NOT copy and use the text provided above and/or publish as your own. The document may only be used for private study or distributing among peers in paper, not on internet transmission, with no intent to make profit or sell without credit being due to the original author.
Florida DUI Family Awarded $6.2 Million
In an unprecedented law suit ruling, Mary Taylor Christensen has been ordered by the courts to pay $6.2 million to the family of the victims in her drunk driving hit-and-run incident. In 2005, Christensen drank too much, took painkillers, hopped behind the wheel and ended up slamming into a car on the side of I-95 belonging to Thomas Bowen, who was instantly killed as he changed a flat tire. Christensen has been serving an 11.5 year sentence for the vehicular manslaughter and will now pay a massive amount of money in restitution for her crime.
Driving under the influence is a deadly motor vehicle crime that costs many people their lives, physically, financially, and in their freedom. Drinking and driving should already be a definite ‘no’ activity and must be seen in light of the damage it creates and the wide ripple effect that it creates.
Florida Prosecution of Mortgage Frauds by Criminal Lawyer Ralph Behr: Part 8
South Florida Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog is proud to present the next installment of Attorney Behr’s mortgage fraud prosecutions series:
18 U.S.C. §1956 Laundering of monetary instruments
&
18 U.S.C. §1957 Engaging in monetary transactions in property
derived from specified unlawful activity
Both statutes essentially have the same purpose of preventing persons from legitimizing proceeds obtained illegally although there are differences. 18 U.S.C. § 1956, is concerned with any financial transaction concerning proceeds of a “specified unlawful activity”73 whenever action is focused to keep the criminal activity from being discovered, or to hide the source or current possessor of the funds, or to avoid the mandatory disclosures under the Bank Secrecy Act under Title 31 U.S.C.74 Conversely, provisions of 18 U.S.C. § 1957 is applicable if a person “…knowingly engages or attempts to engage in a monetary transaction in criminally derived property of a value greater than $10,000 and is derived from specified unlawful activity…”75
In United States v. Moncrief, 133 Fed.Appx. 924 (5th Cir. 2004), both of these statutes were instituted in a case which the government claimed to be “…the largest mortgage-loan-fraud operation ever to be prosecuted.”76 The case involved Meis Enterprises which was owned and operated by the Meis family.77 Mei Enterprises was a conglomeration of several businesses operated by members of the Mei family.78 Mei Enterprises operated a construction company and several real estate companies.79 Although the assortment of companies had differing bank accounts and officers in charge, Mei Enterprises “…operated out of one common office.”80
The alleged end result of the mortgage fraud scheme was to collect “…large amounts of cash by inducing mortgage lenders to provide the Meis with loans that were $50,000 to $80,000…” over what “…it cost the Meis to purchase the real estate that served as the collateral for the loan.”81 In order to obtain the loans, “…the Meis orchestrated sham real estate transactions in which the Meis would appear to sell a particular property, which…” would overlap “…with actual sales in which the Meis would purchase, for the first time, the very same property.”82 Purportedly, the Meis first would find a property for sale and “…acting through one of their realty companies such as Hathaway Properties, would contract to purchase the property from its owner.”83
Third parties or straw buyer would serve as a temporary purchaser usually Frank Mei Sr. to complete “…a parallel sham transaction that would be used to obtain an inflated loan.”84 Mortgage brokers in one of the Mei Enterprises would falsify employment and income information on loan application to lenders.85 Eventually, Moncrief, a residential real estate appraiser became involved in the Mei scheme.86 Allegedly, Moncrief used the Mei’s formula for over inflating the value of selected properties and “…was involved in more straw buyer transactions than any other appraiser that the Meis use…”87 which exposed him to the money laundering violations.88
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Any use of the previous article requires written permission from Ralph Behr and from this website and its subsidiaries under State and Federal Law. DO NOT copy and use the text provided above and/or publish as your own. The document may only be used for private study or distributing among peers in paper, not on internet transmission, with no intent to make profit or sell without credit being due to the original author.