Christopher Wayne White Guilty of Mortgage Fraud

A Broward real estate broker was sentenced to 41 months in prison, three years’ supervised release and ordered to pay $4,029,892, in restitution to victims in three separate fraud cases.

Christopher Wayne White, 44, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, pled guilty on November 21, 2014 in Case No. 14-60283-CR-Dimitrouleas to one count of wire fraud. According to documents filed with the court, White made numerous false statements to the mortgage lender in connection with the purchase of a luxury home on Sea Island Drive in Fort Lauderdale. According to court records, White inflated his bank account balances, income, deposit and assets to fraudulently induce the mortgage lender to issue a mortgage loan in excess of $4.9 million dollars. The property was subsequently foreclosed by the lender resulting in substantial losses.

In Case No. 14-60282-CR-Dimitrouleas, White pled guilty on November 21, 2014 to six counts of wire fraud. According to court documents, White was a licensed real estate broker and owner and operator of the Christopher White Group in Fort Lauderdale. White obtained multiple real estate deposits in excess of $750,000 via wire transfers involving properties in Broward County from individuals and refused to return the escrow deposits. Subsequently, the Secretary of Florida’s Department of Business and Professional Regulation ordered an emergency suspension of White’s real estate broker’s license.

In Case No. 14-60216-CR-Dimitrouleas, White pled guilty on November 21, 2014 to three counts of making material false statements to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. According to documents filed with the court, these statements were included on White’s April 16, 2014, application for naturalization submitted to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. White made the following material false statements in his naturalization application: (1) that he had never claimed to be a U.S. Citizen; (2) that he had never committed, assisted in committing or attempted to commit a crime or offense for which he was never arrested; and (3) that he had never failed to support his dependents.

Tax Fraud Scheme earns Georgia man Prison Sentence

A Georgia man, Sirhon “Ron” Rivers, 40, was sentenced in federal court to eight years and six months in federal prison without parole for a wire fraud scheme in which he used the identity information of deceased persons to obtain more than $2.3 million in tax refunds from several states.  The court also ordered Rivers to pay $2,358,612 in restitution.

On Sept. 14, 2014, Rivers pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud, one count of aggravated identity theft, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

Rivers admitted that he unlawfully obtained $547,000 from the Missouri Department of Revenue from January 2008 to August 2012 by filing fraudulent tax returns. Rivers used the same scheme in others states—including Kansas, Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island and Virginia—to unlawfully acquire a total of $2,365,617 in fraudulent state tax refunds.

Rivers obtained personal identification information—including names, Social Security numbers, and dates of birth—from deceased persons. He submitted state tax returns using that information, adding false and fraudulent information such as employment and wages earned. State tax returns were submitted electronically, with the refunds electronically transferred to bank accounts that Rivers opened at several financial institutions.

IRS Tax Fraud – Dewayne Long faces Prison

Dewayne K. Long, 53, of Omaha, Nebraska, was sentenced for conspiracy to defraud the United States by filing false federal income tax returns for income tax refunds.  The Honorable Joseph Bataillon sentenced Long to one year and one day in prison, three years of supervised release and restitution in the amount of $440,924.00.

Beginning around December 1, 2008, through March 2010, Dewayne K. Long, and another individual conspired to defraud the Internal Revenue Service by filing false federal income tax returns which contained fraudulent claims for income tax refunds.  These claims were based upon false amounts of federal income tax withheld which were reported on false Forms 1099-0ID.  The Form 1099-OIDs (Original Issue Discount) improperly claimed that the clients had income and corresponding federal income taxes withheld, which resulted in a refund due from the IRS.  Long and his co-conspirator caused nine (9) false claims to be filed with the IRS, totaling $4,701,010.00.

“This defendant filed fraudulent tax returns with bogus claims in an attempt to steal from the U.S. Treasury and the taxpaying public,” said Tanya Brewer, Acting Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation.

Jaime Sanchez sentenced to Prison for Mortgage Fraud – Choices and Consequences

An Individual was sentenced for his role in illegal mortgage fraud kick-back scheme, which resulted in his and his co-conspirators fraudulently obtaining $3,000,000 in 12 fraudulent mortgage loans at Marina Oaks Condominiums.

Jaime Sanchez, 43, was sentenced to 168 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release. On October 29, 2014, Sanchez pled guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud affecting a financial institution. Sanchez had been previously charged in connection with fraudulently obtaining mortgages for the purchase of 12 condominium units at Marina Oaks Condominiums in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

According to the indictment from January 2007 through September 2008, in the Southern District of Florida and elsewhere, Sanchez and others conspired to recruit individuals who would be willing to purchase condominium units at Marina Oaks Condominiums. These buyers were promised a “buyer’s incentive” which in actuality was an indirect payment or “kick-back” to the buyers not disclosed to the lenders or reflected on any of the closing documents. Sanchez and others would then prepare materially false and fraudulent mortgage applications for the buyers on the Uniform Loan Application Form 1003 which contained false and fraudulent information as to material facts about the borrower’s credit worthiness in order to obtain mortgage money from lenders to fund the purchase of the Marina Oaks Condominiums. The conspirators would create false and fraudulent documents to support the mortgage applications. Once the loans closed, the conspirators would fraudulently and unlawfully divert portions of the mortgage proceeds for their own personal use and benefit.

Four Charged in Grant Funding Scam

Four persons have been charged with conspiracy and fraud for obtaining money from small business owners for grant funding and services that they never provided or intended to provide, announced U.S. Attorney Daniel G. Bogden for the District of Nevada and Laura A. Bucheit, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI for Nevada.

Jason Demko, 38, Lorraine Riddiough, 66, Lissette Alvarez, 27, all of Las Vegas, and Mark Jones, 32, of Barberton, Ohio, are charged in a criminal indictment with one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, five counts of wire fraud, and criminal forfeiture. Riddiough, Alvarez, and Jones were arrested in Las Vegas.

“Unfortunately, advance fee fraud schemes are very common,” said U.S. Attorney Bogden. “The con artist will ask for money up front before any tangible service or product is provided, and it will be very difficult to get your money back once you have turned it over to the scammers.”

“”These arrests emphasize the FBI’s continued commitment to investigate financial crimes,” said Special Agent in Charge Bucheit. “It also serves as a reminder for consumers to protect themselves, and remember if it seems too good to be true, it almost always is.”

According to the indictment and other court records, from about January 2013 to February 2014, the defendants allegedly made false and fraudulent representations and promises to small business owners to persuade and induce them to pay initial fees, usually between $2,500 and $5,000 for goods and services they thought would help them obtain grants for their businesses. The business owners were told that the total cost for obtaining a grant was between $10,000 and $15,000, depending on the total amount of funding requested, and that the remaining fees would not be charged until the owners received 100 percent of the grant funding. Among other things, the defendants falsely stated that they represented a company named Foundation Processing Center in Wilmington, Del., when in fact, they represented JCD Business Services in Las Vegas; falsely stated that only certain clients had qualified for grants, when in fact anyone who paid the fees were qualified by the defendants; and stated that they had obtained grants for other clients, when in fact they had not done so. The defendants also re-solicited clients for additional fees, including business plans, when they knew that the plans were not going to assist the clients in obtaining any grants. The defendants knew that the true purpose of their solicitations was to obtain funds to personally enrich themselves.

If convicted, the defendants face a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on all counts.

Lawrence B. Iken pleads guilty to Health Care Fraud Sentencing set for April 2015

Lawrence B. Iken, DPM, and his company each pled guilty to charges involving the submission of false documents and reimbursement claims related to podiatric services purportedly provided by Dr. Iken, from 2006 through July 2014. As part of his plea, Dr. Iken has agreed to a money judgment of $999,170, which represents the amount of reimbursement that he and his company received for the health care claims.

According to court documents, Dr. Iken and his company, Lawrence B. Iken, DPM, LLC., have offices in Manchester and Creve Coeur, MO. Dr. Iken is a sole practitioner who provided podiatry services to patients at his Manchester and at his Creve Coeur offices and at various nursing homes in the St. Louis area. In addition to his office practice, Dr. Iken is an independent contractor for Preferred Podiatry Group, Inc. (PPG). According to its website, PPG provides podiatric care to residents in nursing homes and other long term care facilities in Missouri and five other states. As a PPG contractor, Dr. Iken provided services to nursing home residents on Wednesdays and Thursdays. With his plea, Dr. Iken admitted that on thousands of occasions, he billed Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance companies for the incision and drainage of abscesses and hematomas when he actually only clipped the toenails of the patients.

Iken, 65, of Chesterfield, and his company each pled guilty to one felony count of healthcare fraud before United States District Judge Ronald L. White. Sentencing has been set for April 17, 2015.

Investment Fraud – Christopher Anzalone pleads Guilty faces Prison

California resident pled guilty today to his leading of a commodities and investment fraud scheme that yielded an aggregate amount of over $16 million in investments from victims for the purported purchase of precious metal positions and over-the-counter stock.

According to the charging and plea documents:

From 2010 to December 2011, Liberty International Financial Services, Inc. (LIFS) was an investment firm in Fort Lauderdale with brokers who solicited investors for the purchase of purported precious metals positions in gold, silver, and palladium. Christopher Anzalone, 31, was a co-founder of LIFS and was responsible for overseeing LIFS brokers. Contrary to representations made to investors by LIFS brokers, LIFS invested less than $200,000 of the approximately $4 million provided by investors for the purchase of precious metals positions.

From mid-2011 through 2013, Liberty International Holding Corporation (LIHC) was a holding corporation in Fort Lauderdale whose stock traded in the over-the-counter market. LIHC brokers solicited investors for the purchase of LIHC stock. Anzalone was the co-founder of LIHC. Anzalone represented to brokers, and had brokers represent to potential investors, that LIHC had substantial assets, including a substantial position in metals held in a Panamanian depository. In truth and in fact, as Anzalone well knew, LIHC did not hold these positons or any assets of real value. Induced by misrepresentations made by LIHC brokers, investors purchased more than $9 million in LIHC shares.

From October 2012 through October 2013, Allied Financial Strategies, Inc. (Allied) was an investment firm operating in Miami. Allied brokers solicited investors primarily for the purchase of LIHC stock. Anzalone and co-conspirators induced investors to purchase LIHC shares by falsely and fraudulently representing to investors that a hedge fund or other large investment funds intended to purchase a substantial block of LIHC shares at an over-inflated price compared to the LIHC market price of those same shares. Anzalone used co-conspirators to falsely and fraudulently pose as other investors or hedge fund representatives to induce prospective investors to invest monies. Based on these false representations by these co-conspirators, investors wired over $3 million to accounts controlled by the co-conspirators.

Former Finance Director for Town of Plymouth – David J. Bertnagel arrested for Embezzlement

DAVID J. BERTNAGEL, 41, of Thomaston, was arrested today on a federal criminal complaint charging him with embezzling more than $800,000 from the Town of Plymouth.

According to the criminal complaint, from July 2014 to October 2014, BERTNAGEL was employed as the Finance Director for the Town of Plymouth. For approximately six years prior to that time he was a part-time employee in the Town’s Finance Department. From approximately October 2011 through October 2014, it is alleged that BERTNAGEL issued 207 checks totaling approximately $808,030 from the Town’s payroll account to himself. BERTNAGEL used the embezzled funds to make mortgage payments, pay credit card bills, fund home improvement projects and purchase more than $100,000 in coins, stamps and other collectibles. He also converted more than $182,000 of the stolen funds by way of cashed checks, ATM withdrawals and money orders.

The complaint also alleges that BERTNAGEL did not file a tax return with the Internal Revenue Service for the 2011 tax year and, although he did file tax returns for the 2012 and 2013 tax years, he failed to report any of his embezzled income.

Since 2011, Plymouth has received approximately $450,000 in grant awards from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The criminal complaint charges BERTNAGEL with theft from a local government receiving federal funds, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years.

Medicare Fraud Scheme – Dr. Mansour Sanjar and Dr. Cyrus Sajadi sentence to Prison in $97 Million scheme

The two physician owners of a Houston-area mental health clinic were sentenced to 148 months and 120 months respectively for their roles in a $97 million Medicare fraud scheme. A group home owner who sent residents to the clinic in exchange for kickbacks was also sentenced to 54 months in prison for her role.

“Doctors are not only bound by oath to serve the health of their patients, they are bound by duty to serve as gatekeepers for Medicare spending,” said Assistant Attorney General Caldwell. “In this case, without the criminal participation of Drs. Sanjar and Sajadi, this fraud simply could not have happened.”

Physicians Mansour Sanjar, 81, and Cyrus Sajadi, 67, the owners of Spectrum Care P.A., a community mental health clinic, were each convicted following a jury trial on March 12, 2014, of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and conspiracy to pay and receive kickbacks, as well as related counts of health care fraud and paying illegal kickbacks. Chandra Nunn, 36, a group home owner, was convicted of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and conspiracy to pay and receive kickbacks, as well as related counts of receiving illegal kickbacks. In addition to the prison sentences, U.S. District Judge Vanessa D. Gilmore of the Southern District of Texas ordered Sanjar and Sajadi to pay $8,058,612.39 in restitution, and Nunn to pay $1,885,667.41 in restitution. Co-defendants Adam Main, Shokoufeh Hakimi, Sharonda Holmes and Shawn Manney were also convicted and are scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 20, 2015.

According to evidence presented at trial, Sanjar and Sajadi orchestrated and executed a scheme to defraud Medicare beginning in 2006 and continuing until their arrest in December 2011. Sanjar and Sajadi owned Spectrum, which purportedly provided partial hospitalization program (PHP) services. A PHP is a form of intensive outpatient treatment for severe mental illness. The Medicare beneficiaries for whom Spectrum billed Medicare for PHP services did not qualify for or need PHP services.

Evidence presented at trial showed that Sanjar and Sajadi signed admission documents and progress notes certifying that patients qualified for PHP services, when in fact, the patients did not qualify for or need PHP services. Sanjar and Sajadi also billed Medicare for PHP services when the beneficiaries were actually watching movies, coloring and playing games, which are not activities covered by Medicare.

Evidence presented at trial also showed that Sanjar and Sajadi paid kickbacks to group care home operators and patient recruiters, including Nunn, Holmes and Manney, in exchange for delivering ineligible Medicare beneficiaries to Spectrum. In some cases, the patients received a portion of those kickbacks. According to evidence presented at trial, Spectrum billed Medicare for approximately $97 million in services that were not medically necessary and, in some cases, not provided.

Dan Frishberg apparently in violation of SEC order not to offer Investment Advice. Will there ever be Justice in this case?

Hello everyone Dan, here. How often do you hear yourself saying “no I haven’t looked at that yet, but I’ve been meaning to?”

Thus began an email written to my by none other than Dan Frishberg.  Yes, Dan Frishberg of disgraced BizRadio fame, the same Dan Frishberg that is banned from the SEC in offering investment advice…not that it seems the SEC has any teeth when it comes to Dan and his continued radio commentary.

I just read yet another email from a frustrated trader telling me that the trading techniques, the pattern recognition software, or the black box strategies that he believed in are simply not working.

Wow…again I’m confused.  You received “yet another email from a frustrated trader” – but Dan you’re not supposed to be offering investment advice so why would you be receiving any emails from traders?  What am I missing here?

Brokers are telling their customers to ignore their losses and hang on, but that’s what they always say. Sometimes that advice works, but it has also resulted in some of the biggest losses in the past twenty years.

Oh my…”some of the biggest losses in the past twenty years” – wonder if that isn’t exactly what happened to people – good folks who couldn’t afford to lose – when they listened to your line about BizRadio and why they should invest in you.  Dan tell me – if they lost in you, why should they now listen to you – especially when you’re not supposed to be offering investment advice?  Damn this perplexes me!

One listener said he has finally realized technical analysis doesn’t work. This isn’t true, the current price is unquestionably a key part of the story but this is only part of it.

Only part of the story…seems that’s a mantra for you.  Has anyone who invested with you in BizRadio ever gotten the truth – the full story or even as much as an apology?

The paradox of investing is – it’s easy to make money when you stop searching for the easy answer.

Yet you and Al Kaleta offered “easy answers” to investors who by all accounts were defrauded.  Have you made restitution?  Have you made it easy for them to recover their monies?

Instead, get an update on what’s working now — the most up to the minute insight into the trends, turning points, and my best stock and option trade ideas in my all new newsletter, Whats Working Now.

You do have a big set of (whatever)…get “my best stock and option trade ideas” – good lord is that not in direct violation of the SEC requirement that you not offer investment advice?  Justice?  Doesn’t seem to be any here!

CLICK HERE – (I disabled this link as I’m not giving Dan Frishberg a link from my blog)

DANIEL FRISHBERG
THE MONEYMAN REPORT
themoneyman.com

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