Allegations Of Real Estate Agent's Short Sale Fraud, Closing Attorney's Mortgage Refinance Ripoffs Among Charges That Mark Recent Miami Indictments

In Miami, Florida, The Miami Herald reports:

• Four separate indictments were unsealed Tuesday by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Miami accusing 27 people in various mortgage fraud schemes against banks and South Florida homeowners. The charges range from mail fraud to insurance fraud to arson, and highlight the problems that South Florida faces as the nation’s top market for mortgage loan fraud, U.S. Attorney Wilfredo Ferrer said.

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• [According to one indictment,] In 2009, [Miami real estate agent Gerardo] Wilhelm engaged in a fraudulent short sale of the property, selling it to a friend for $77,000, despite the fact that he owed $300,000 on the mortgage. A year after the sale, the buyer transferred the property to a company controlled by Wilhelm. That company, whose vice president is Wilhelm’s mother, sold the townhome in March for $240,000.

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• A [separate] case charges Miami attorney David Donet Sr. with misappropriating more than $1 million in client funds during the closing process of real estate transactions. Instead of using the proceeds of a client’s refinance to pay off the existing mortgage, Donet allegedly kept the money for personal use, leaving homeowners susceptible to foreclosure.

For the story, see U.S. attorney accuses 27 in South Florida of mortgage fraud (U.S. Attorney Wilfredo Ferrer announced charges in four separate cases against South Floridians accused of participating in various mortgage fraud schemes).

For the U.S. Attorney press release, see Mortgage Fraud Take-Down Leads To Charges Against Twenty-Seven South Florida Residents.