MIAMI-DADE – Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez is proud to announce that investigators from the Miami-Dade Police Department assigned to his Mortgage Fraud Task Force have partnered with the United States Secret Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the United States Postal Inspection Service, and conducted a series of sweeps Monday, July 26, 2009. Apprehended were 12 subjects who were federally indicted for their involvement in elaborate mortgage fraud schemes throughout Miami-Dade County.
“Today, I am proud to announce that with the help of the United States Attorney’s Office, we are continuing to aggressively fight Mortgage Fraud – a crime that is so prevalent in South Florida,” said Mayor Alvarez. “Our Task Force continues to make great strides in apprehending the fraudsters in a comprehensive effort to help prevent mortgage fraud.”
The first nine arrests culminate a year and a half long joint investigation between the Miami-Dade Police Department and the United States Secret Service. The case originated while Miami-Dade Police Department Task Force Investigators were conducting an analysis of properties in default or foreclosure in Miami-Dade County. The co-defendants fraudulently obtained nine mortgage loans on various properties in Miami-Dade County using straw purchasers they inflated the price of the properties and skimmed the proceeds of each transaction. The properties involved are all in foreclosure and the loss is approximately two million dollars.
The next three arrests are also from a joint investigation between the Miami-Dade Police Department and the United States Secret Service. The case involves a fraudulent land deal with vacant lots being artificially inflated and sold through family members and straw purchasers. The scheme netted the defendants nearly nine hundred thousand dollars.
Since its creation in September 2007, Miami-Dade County Mayor Alvarez’s Mortgage Fraud Task Force has:
– Made more than 150 arrests
– Drafted new federal legislation which was signed by President Obama on May 20, 2009, to create a nationwide mortgage fraud task force in the Department of Justice modeled after the Miami-Dade Task Force, Public Law 111-22.
– Drafted new state legislation, Florida Statutes 193.133, which was adopted on July 1, 2008. The new legislation requires law enforcement to notify the property appraiser’s office when fraud has been detected and mortgage fraud over $100,000 will now be considered 2nd degree felonies.
– Created the first Code of Conduct Model for real estate professionals and others involved in real estate transactions.
– Created the first local public/private partnership Task Force in the nation to fight mortgage fraud.
– Streamlined reporting and investigating of mortgage fraud by creating an online form.
– Created a Speaker’s Bureau.
– Involved other local, state and federal agencies in a comprehensive approach to fight mortgage crime.
The Mayor’s Mortgage Fraud Task Force is chaired by Glenn Theobald, Chief Counsel of the Miami-Dade Police Department, and made up of law enforcement officials, prosecutors, business leaders, elected officials and other public servants. Through their vision and direction the Task Force aims to help reduce and prevent mortgage fraud through law enforcement and prosecution, legislation and public education. The Task Force was created in September 2007.
