In the following press release Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann and the Franklin County Prosecutor’s office have secured the indictment of Christian Lambright for defrauding an 81 year old Columbus resident. Lambright’s indictment by the Franklin County Grand Jury on felony counts of Theft, Securing Writings by Deception, and Money Laundering follows a three week investigation by the Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission mortgage fraud task force.

Attorney General Dann, who heads the Commission, said Lambright faces enhanced penalties on the felony charges because the victim of the alleged crimes is a senior citizen. The Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office will prosecute the case.

According to Mr. Dann, Lambright was associated with two mortgage broker agencies: Randall Mortgage at 555 Metro Place in Dublin and Hartford Financial at 645 Metro Place South, Suite 100, Dublin, Ohio 43017. Randall Mortgage went out of business in May 2007. Hartford Financial was opened by several employees from Randall Mortgage after its closing.

The victim in this case and her family had discussed refinancing her home with Lambright, who said he was a loan officer for a local mortgage broker. Instead of preparing refinancing paperwork, it is alleged that Lambright concocted a scheme to have the property transferred into the name of his own mother. It is also alleged that Lambright stole money from the closing proceeds.

Investigators say Lambright picked the victim up at her home in late June without her family’s knowledge. Authorities say he then took the woman, who had recently been released from the hospital, was on medication, and could not walk without a walker, to a local fast-food restaurant where he arranged for the paperwork to be signed.

The victim’s family contacted the Consumer Protection Section of the Ohio Attorney General’s Office when they learned of the fraud and were then referred them to the Economic Crime Unit of the Columbus Division of Police.

Authorities report that Christian Lambright previously had a real estate license and a mortgage broker loan officer license; however, he was not licensed to conduct real estate or mortgage loan business at the time of this offense.

This indictment is a part of the continuing crackdown on mortgage fraud by the Ohio Attorney General’s Office in conjunction with local law enforcement authorities and county prosecutor’s offices.

In the following press release the San Bernadino District Attorney Michael A. Ramos announced that on Wednesday, September 5, 2007, felony charges of forgery and financial elder abuse were filed on Silvestre Cortez, 44, of Fontana, after an investigation by the District Attorney’s Real Estate Fraud Unit.

In 1997, Cortez borrowed $115,000 from the victim for the purchase of her Rialto property. In 2000, Cortez allegedly forged the victim’s signature on a Subordination Agreement document that placed the loan in a secondary position.

Cortez had taken an additional $110,000 loan on the Rialto property. In late 2006, the elderly victim discovered the forgery when she was informed that her former property was in foreclosure.

Cortez was incarcerated at the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Adelanto Detention Center for unrelated fraud charges when the new charges were filed. He was booked on the new charges and bail was set at $150,000.

In the following press release the New York Attorney General, Andrew M. Cuomo announced the arrests of the former operators of Welcome Home, a Beaver Dams “Family Type Home” for adults, who allegedly used the credit cards, bank accounts and identities of their residents, one of whom was receiving hospice care, to acquire a swimming pool, a tractor and cash.

Harry Smith, 46, and his wife, Christine Smith, age 40, of 1425 Roloson Hollow Road in Beaver Dams, were charged with Grand Larceny in the Third Degree for stealing thousands of dollars from two elderly residents of the home. In addition, Harry Smith was charged with Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, Forgery in the Second Degree, Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree and Identity Theft in the First Degree for falsely using the identity and credit of one of the residents to purchase a tractor. Each of the crimes charged are class “D” felonies, which carry a maximum prison term of 2 and 1/3 to 7 years.

“The bad faith and abuse of trust alleged in this indictment are shocking,” Attorney General Cuomo said. “As we move toward providing more care to patients in home settings, it is absolutely essential we not allow such abuses to take place. My Medicaid Fraud Control Unit is aggressively pursuing abuses by the providers of home care, and will continue sending the message that this type of behavior is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.”

The indictment accuses the pair of stealing the proceeds of the sale of a 71-year-old resident’s home, and wrongfully using the bank account and credit card of an 87-year-old hospice patient to purchase a swimming pool, fencing, and other items for their personal use. Harry Smith is also charged with falsely using the 71-year-old resident’s identity and credit to purchase a tractor costing approximately $25,000. Both residents are now deceased.
    
Family Type Homes, for adults of all ages, are certified by county Departments of Social Services. These are typically a single family home in which the homeowner provides supportive services, meals, supervision, and personal care to four or fewer adults who are unrelated to the homeowner/operator. Welcome Home was closed by the State Office of Child and Family Services in July 2004, after the State Police found the residents of the home in the care of a 14-year-old.

Cuomo thanked the New York State Police, the Office of Child and Family Services, and Wendy Wolcott from the Schuyler County Office of the Aging for their cooperation and assistance in this investigation. The defendants were arraigned by Schuyler County court Judge J.C. Argetsinger and released on their own recognizance. They are due back in court September 6. The charges against the defendants are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
       
Special Assistant Attorney General Timothy McFarland, of the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit’s Rochester Regional Office, is prosecuting the above matter. The case was investigated by Supervising Special Investigator Neil Davis, Principal Special Auditor/Investigator Thomas Clarke, Medical Analyst Tina Dentino and New York State Police Investigator Joe Kelly.

In the following press release United States Attorney Kevin V. Ryan  announced that a federal grand jury in San Francisco indicted Michael J. Edison, on February 13, 2006, on three counts of wire fraud for his alleged role in a scheme where he stole over $2 million from a San Francisco woman by purporting to offer financial services to her. These charges are the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

According to the indictment and the criminal complaint, Mr. Edison, 61, is alleged to have devised a scheme whereby he entered into an oral agreement with the victim to provide a variety of financial services for her. Once Edison had access to the victim’s confidential financial information he opened a joint bank account for himself and the victim without notifying the victim. Edison thereafter applied for a line of credit with Wells Fargo Bank and a mortgage and second line of credit with Countrywide Mortgage in the victim’s name. Edison used the victim’s San Francisco residence to secure the lines of credit and mortgage. Edison obtained approximately $5.2 million from these entities in the victim’s name. Edison then deposited approximately $2.8 million into the joint account he opened in both of their names and proceeded to withdraw or transfer approximately $2.4 million for his own personal use and without the knowledge or consent of the victim. He used the stolen money on such purchases as his own airplane and to make personal investments. As a result of Edison’s fraud, the victim is embroiled in civil litigation with Countrywide in connection with efforts to foreclose on her San Francisco residence.

The investigation began in March of 2006, when an attorney on the victim’s behalf notified the FBI that Mr. Edison had taken over $2 million of the victim’s money and then disappeared.

Mr. Edison was arrested in a hotel room in Atlanta on February 10, 2006, pursuant to an outstanding arrest warrant, and made his initial appearance before a magistrate judge in Atlanta on February 12, 2006. He is currently in custody in Atlanta and his next scheduled appearance is at 1:30 p.m. ET on February 15, 2006, for a bail hearing before the federal magistrate in Atlanta.

An indictment contains only allegations against an individual and, as with all defendants, Mr. Edison must be presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Jeffrey Finigan is the Assistant U.S. Attorney who is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Rawaty Yim. The prosecution is the result of an 11 month investigation by the FBI.

In the following press release Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Bill Mason announced that Candice Robinson pled guilty to stealing $67,400 from Frankie Jo Henry, a 72-year-old woman from Garfield Heights, in a predatory lending scheme. She faces a possible maximum sentence of 8 ½ years in prison.

Henry’s daughter approached Candice Robinson, 27, of Cleveland, an employee for Great Lakes Mortgage Company in August of 2005. The daughter was concerned about her home due to missed mortgage payments. Robinson deceived the mother and daughter by telling them that the home was in foreclosure, when, if fact, it was not. Robinson told them that $65,000 plus $2,400 in attorney’s fees was needed to get the home out of foreclosure. The mother offered to help her daughter save her house.

Henry took out a $90,000 line of credit on her home and paid off her $9,826 mortgage, plus $7,943 in costs. She was left with $72,231, and then wrote two checks to Robinson totaling $67,400 in December of 2005. Over these several months, Robinson gained the trust of Henry and her daughter.

As part of this scheme, Robinson requested the payee on the checks to remain blank. Robinson put her name on the checks as the payee and then deposited them into her mother’s account. The mother, Martha Robinson, 56, of Cleveland, wrote checks to her daughter, who used the money for herself. The crime occurred from August 2005 to December 2005.

Prosecutor Bill Mason said, “This coldhearted fraud targeted the elderly to line her pockets. She stole this poor woman’s equity in her home of 25 years and destroyed her peace of mind. For such callous and destructive thievery, Robinson should be removed from our community.”

Martha Robinson also pled today to one (1) count of Receiving Stolen Property and agreed to pay back $1800 that her daughter gave her from the stolen money. Martha’s sentencing is scheduled for February 20, 2007.

In the following press release the Connecticut States Attorney announced that a Terryville man was arrested today (11/7/2006) on 13 criminal counts for allegedly defrauding the State of Connecticut and exploiting his elderly father who was unable to manage his own affairs.
 
CHRIS H. YARD, age 53, of 140 Scott Road, Terryville, was arrested on a warrant charging him with three counts of Larceny in the Second Degree, five counts of Larceny in the Second Degree involving a Victim over the Age of 60, two counts of Forgery in the Second Degree and one count each of Larceny in the Third Degree, Larceny in the Fourth Degree and False Statement in the Second Degree.
 
According to the arrest warrant affidavit, Mr. Yard is accused of submitting false documents or failing to provide an accurate accounting of his father’s assets to the State of Connecticut Department of Social Services in connection with his father’s nursing home  care paid for by the Medicaid program.
 
Between September 1, 2005, and June 30, 2006, Medicaid paid more than $85,000 on behalf of the father, the warrant states.
 
Additionally, Mr. Yard is accused of using a power of attorney to embezzle more than $28,000 in his father’s assets and with diverting $93,000 from a reverse mortgage or equity loan he obtained on his father’s house, the warrant states.
 
The charges against Chris Yard are merely accusations and he is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
 
Mr. Yard was released on a $100,000 non-surety bond. He is scheduled to appear in Bristol Superior Court, G.A. No. 17, on November 15, 2006.
 
The case is being prosecuted by the Elder Services Bureau in the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney.

In the following press release it was announced that at approximately 7 a.m. on October 5, 2006, San Bernardino County District Attorney Investigators from the Real Estate Fraud Prosecution Unit, with the assistance of Deputies Carmine Delucia and Tom Boyle from the Morongo Sheriff’s Substation, arrested Charlene Padilla Humphrey, 51, and her husband, Mark Terrence Humphrey, 46, at their residence in the 71800 Block of Sunnyslope Drive, Twentynine Palms, CA during an early morning search warrant service. The pair was wanted in connection with the Grand Theft and Elder Abuse of Garneth Sylvia, 92.

An in-depth investigation was initated after Sheriff’s Deputy Carmine Delucia contacted the Real Estate Fraud Unit for assistance. The investigation determined that Charlene Humphrey gained the confidence and trust of the elderly victim and convinced her to move to California from Cape Girardeau, Missouri. The Humphreys convinced the victim to purchase two homes in Twentynine Palms and then pressured the victim into signing over title of the properties to the Humphreys. The Humphreys then took out a loan on one home in the 5400 Block of Morongo Road, which the victim had purchased for $50,000. Charlene Humphrey misled the victim into signing the property over to them as a gift, while the victim believed she was signing documents necessary to receive her share of funds from the home. The victim received nothing and the Humphreys financed $100,000 and used the proceeds to pay off their own debts. Additionally, the Humphreys used stolen proceeds to buy a home in Harlem, Georgia.

The Humphreys also convinced the victim to invest an additional $48,000 for a “Bed and Breakfast” they told the victim they would open in the 72000 block of Sunnyslope Drive, Twentynine Palms. The neighborhood is residential, off the beaten path, and the bed and breakfast was never opened. The victim is currently living in a mobile home park in San Bernardino County. The victim’s loss totals approximately $150,000, which was her life’s savings. The Humphreys are being held on $350,000 bail.

Update on Thursday, November 9, 2006 at 10:03AM by The Editor - Ian Shuter

The District Attorney announced that On Friday, November 3, 2006, during a preliminary hearing at the Joshua Tree Superior Court, Charlene Humphrey pled guilty as charged and received a 3-year state prison sentence for Financial Elder Abuse and Grand Theft.

In a plea agreement, Mark Humphrey pled guilty to Financial Elder Abuse and Grand Theft and was sentenced to 145 days in county jail, along with 3 years probation and restitution to the victim in the amount of $100,000.00 to be paid by January 10, 2007.

Mark Humphrey was ordered to sell two pieces of real estate in order to repay the victim for the assets taken from her. Should Mark Humphrey fail to comply with the terms of this agreement, he could also be sentenced to state prison when he returns to court on January 10, 2007. 

Click here for the press release