FBI Focus on First Guarantee Mortgage As Silipigno Probe Continues

The FBI armed with search warrants raided several storage lockers in Saratoga County and Broadway Offices being used by David B. Silipigno, along with some of his business associates this past June. Silipigno is a convicted felon. He pleaded guilty in federal court six year ago to defrauding lenders of 5.6 million mortgage fraud in Albany. The conviction was related to his former company National Finance Corp. of Halfmoon. He was sentence to probation and served a few days in jail.

Federal agents towed away truckloads documents, computers, and Silipignos blackberry.

First Guarantee Mortgage is now defunct however the FBI is focusing its investigation on if its employees have committed bank or loan origination fraud.

Times Union requested that the FBI affidavit remain unsealed, U.S Magistrate Judge David R. Homer denied the request based on the FBI contention that a criminal investigation is still in its early stages and disclosing the affidavit would reveal the full breadth of the investigation and the full range of the criminal violations being investigated. The FBI claims that disclose of the information puts the existing investigation at risk and that individuals yet to be named would destroy or influence testimony given by others.

The warrants remain unsealed however and indicate the FBI sought raids due to evidence of conspiracy, loan origination fraud, false statement, mail, wire, and bank fraud. The companies focused on in the warrants include: First Guarantee Mortgagee; Industry Partners Title; Principle Commercial Corporation; American Bank – Saratoga Branch; Eagle National Bank – Saratoga Branch; InstantRefi.com; Consumer Direct Marketing; Business Outsource Services; Integrated Business Services; Secure Technology Management and Broadway Business Solutions.  Some of these companies are never been incorporate or active.

First Guarantee had an office in Saratoga Springs where workers used lead sheets to contact prospective borrowers in several states.  The company was not approved to by lenders. First Guarantee marketed the mortgage contracts out to banks after approving a borrower’s application. They went defunct after the nationwide mortgage downturn.

Attorney for First Guarantee, Leslie Apple, believe the FBI probe is part of a nationwide federal law enforcement crackdown stemming from the collapse of the mortgage industry. He advises that the raid should not be interpreted as an indication of wrongdoing on First Guarantee’s part.  He stated he was confident the investigation would show that the company was well run and maintained policies and procedures to prevent mortgage fraud. He has letters from banks that funded mortgage loans for the company that attest to the quality of the loans performed. He also stated that First Guarantee did approximately 30,000 loans in the eight years it was in business and that none were required to be bought back.

It is uncertain what generated the FBI focus onto First Guarantee other than its association with Silipigno.