$33M Mortgage Fraud Bust

A Virginia business man who sought to capitalize on the housing boom is now facing charges after it was discovered that he was liable for fraud of nearly $33M.

According to the Washington Post,

Vijay K. Taneja, 47, admitted that he defrauded banks of at least $33 million through schemes in which he created bogus mortgage loans and obtained funds for the same loans from multiple banks. Prosecutors said the case is the largest in Virginia in at least 20 years.

Taneja is a popular Indian-American businessman who has funded many Indian films and musical acts. Regardless of his patronage for the arts, Taneja faces more than seven years in prison.

Taneja was released as he awaits his January sentancing. He'll be electronically monitored to ensure that he doesn't flee.

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SFGate: Former ally says he paid off ex-sheriff monthly

A millionaire businessman who allegedly helped launder campaign donations for former Orange County Sheriff Michael Carona testified Thursday that he paid the sheriff a monthly stipend to keep him from taking bribes from others.

Don Haidl, who struck a plea deal with prosecutors in Carona's federal corruption case, said he paid Carona and his campaign manager, George Jaramillo, $1,000 a month each to control their greed. He said he was worried that obligations over small freebies would derail the trio's larger plan to get Carona elected to state office, where he could funnel lucrative side deals and contracts to Haidl.

"They seemed to be obsessed with money and business deals and they didn't seem to understand how the business world works ... and I was very concerned," Haidl said, saying he made the payments from 1998 to 2002. "I didn't want them to be politically obligated to people over a dinner."

The government alleges that over several years the three-term sheriff, his mistress, his wife and a close group of friends accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes and kickbacks in exchange for the power of Carona's office.

Prosecutors allege the scheme began as early as 1998, when Carona - an underdog candidate - laundered tens of thousands of dollars in campaign donations with Haidl's help.

Carona, 53, has pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy, mail fraud and witness tampering. His mistress, Debra Hoffman, has pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy, mail fraud and bankruptcy fraud. Carona's wife, Deborah, will be tried separately on a single count of conspiracy.

Read more on the SFGate’s article.

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Mortgage Fraud up by 42%

In a report from Mortgage Asset Research Institute (MARI), as announced in this article, mentioned that “incidents of mortgage fraud in the U.S. increased by 42 percent in the first quarter of 2008” year over year. The two states with the highest incidents remained Florida, and California. The most common type of case filed include: General Application Misrepresentation, Income Misrepresentation, and Employment Misrepresentation. The statement released by MARI, regarding their recent report stated:

"The mortgage industry is currently in a volatile state, as many constituents try to protect themselves from criminals who continue to use these turbulent times as an opportunity to commit new fraud and inflict additional financial damage for our nation's lenders."

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