Cape Coral Detective pleads guilty to mortgage fraud

Stephen Petrovich a detective in the Cape Coral, Florida Property and Financial Crimes Unit and the son of Cape Coral Police Chief, Rob Petrovich was among four other individuals that pleaded guilty to mortgage fraud on March 3rd.

Cape Coral Police Chief, Rob Petrovich stated in the press conference that he loves his son, that love is unconditional and that his son will have to face the consequences of his actions. He stated that everyone is accountable for what they do and that he cannot turn his back to justice simply because it hits close to home. He told reporters that they were aware of the federal investigation and knew this day was coming. He stated that it wasn’t a matter of if to them but a matter of when. He further stated that he did not see anything that might have indicated what his son was involved in was criminal and that he wished he had.

Chief Petrovich also stated that actions of one police officer do not represent the entire Cape Coral department and his son’s actions are not a reflection of the police department as a whole. He further stated that the Cape Coral Police Department did not play an active role in the investigation.

The co-conspirators in the case are Tyler Forrey, Steven Reese, Ryan O’brien and Troy Bossert. All have pleaded to according to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service and the United States Secret Service began investigation the case in 2008. The investigation centered on cash out transactions between the years 2007 and 2008. The investigation revealed that individuals involved in the conspiracy obtained monies by submitting fraudulent mortgage loan applications and doctoring Housing and Urban Development settlement statements. Funds were wired by closing agents to accounts control by the conspirators.

The conspirators targeted homes that were for sale by owner and told the sellers of the properties that they were mortgage brokers. They also told the sellers that they had found buyers for their properties that were willing to pay the asking price of the home. The conspirators also told sellers that the buyers of the property wanted to get additional funds to repair the properties which required the seller to increase the sale price of the property. The mortgage loan applications were completed with fraudulent income, employment and assets information in order for some of the straw buyers to qualify for the properties in question. Inflated appraisals were used in order to ensure cash back on the purchase transactions.

The conspirators divided the monies once the funds were wired into one of the accounts that they controlled. The straw buyers paid on the homes for approximately three months then let the homes fall into foreclosure. Seven homes in total were involved in the case and an estimated four million twenty three thousand dollars in fraudulent loans was obtained.

Stephen Petrovich resigned from the department in November after he was placed on Administrative leave at the time he was making sixty four thousand dollars a year and have worked for the department for eleven years.