Ten charged with Mortgage Fraud in Miami Dade

Federal investigators have identified ten individuals in regard to a twenty-four million dollar mortgage fraud. The indictment against the ten individuals states that three of the conspirators would identify the properties in which the conspirator would use to defraud mortgage lending institutions. The conspirators would then recruit family and friends to use as straw buyers to purchase and sell the properties involved. Mortgage applications would then be completed with fraudulent income, assets and employment information by two of the conspirators and submitted for approval from mortgage lending institutions.

The conspirators used a method called flipping to obtain the funds from the mortgage institutions. They used the closing funds to pay themselves and as down payment on purchase transactions. The conspirators however ran out of funds to continue the flipping scheme and stopped making payments on the mortgage loans they had obtained. Three banks Washington Mutual, Impac Lending Group, and Loan City incurred over seven million dollars in losses.

The ten individuals indicted in the case are:

Yamil L. Herrera, age 38, from Miami;

Alain C. Hernandez, age 41, from Miami;

Ricelda M. Hernandez, age 44, from Miami;

Maria G. Herrera, age 40, from Miami;

Samantha Portales, age 42, from Miami;

Edel Martinez, age 37, from Miami;

Osiris Garcia, age 41, from Miami;

Silvio De Paz, age 46, from Miami;

Ana G. Blanco, age 35, from Hialeah; and

Luis R. Martinez, age 42, from Hialeah.