Defending Mortgage Fraud Indictments

A federal criminal defense attorney must be ready to represent several types of individuals in mortgage fraud indictments. 

What will the indictment allege?
  • Mail Fraud
  • Bank Fraud
  • Wire Fraud
  • Money Laundering
  • Document Purjury
MORTGAGE FRAUD ISSUES
  1. Flipping Property- this is a situation where there will be allegations of fraud in the appraisal process and in providing information about the loan
  2. Skimming Profit-  This involves the transfer of the mortgage to a fake investor, who in turn does not pay the mortgage.  The classic example is Buyer "A" gets a mortgage for $100,000.00 and then transfers the property to a straw investor who does not repay the mortgage.  The home price is actually lower than $100,000.00 and the parties split the profit and leave the property.
  3. Assisting or influencing numbers on a loan application.  This involves adding numbers to the actual income of the borrower.  Once the application is mailed or sent electronically, the basis for mail fraud and/or wire fraud will be established.  The government will seek to get the borrower to confirm through an interview that the number was incorrect at the time it was mailed and they were assisted by you and you knew the numbers were incorrect. 
Defending these cases requires a criminal defense attorney to investigate and force the government to provide a detailed explanation of the fraud that is being alleged.  Many times the government will indict with a broad theory of fraud.  There must be a motion filed to require the government to specify the fraud.  The amount of money alleged to have been fraudulently acquired is also critical because this number will determine a defendant's prison exposure if he/she is found guilty.  Keeping this number as low as possible is the job of the defense attorney. 

Specific Defenses:
  • Providing an Honest Service
  • Jurisdictional Issues
  • No Specific Intent to commit Fraud
  • Lender must be FDIC insured
  • No plan for Conspiracy Count
  • Venue Issues
There are many other defenses available in a mortgage fraud case including the determination of damages.  The amount of actual loss compared to the alleged loss will be critical in a mortgage fraud case.  The value of the home that has been foreclosed must be evaluated extensively to determine whether the bank is actually damaged by the amount they alleged.  Remember the bank is using the government to go after what it believes is the criminal that tricked them in the loan application process.  A federal criminal defense attorney will have the ability to hire experts, accountants and investigators to get the monetary loss down to a minimum.  The lower the monetary loss the lower the exposure to prison time under the United States Sentencing Guidelines. 







Our federal criminal defense attorneys in Charleston, Miami, Florence, Myrtle Beach, Columbia, Greenville, West Palm Beach, Ft. Lauderdale, Savannah, Atlanta, Detroit and many other cities throughout the United States are ready to fight for you.  Our criminal defense lawyers are experience in many federal courts and appellate courts.
  • Miami Criminal Attorney-              305-532-3636
  • Charleston Criminal Attorney-        843-628-7079
  • Myrtle Beach Criminal Attorney-   843-839-2900
  • Nationwide Criminal Attorney-      800-94-TRIAL