A New Jersey man was charged with conspiracy in connection with an existing $30 million New Jersey mortgage fraud case, media reports said.
Albert Rodd of New Jersey was charged with conspiracy in New Jersey federal court as a result of allegations that he manufactured documents in connection with a $30 million alleged mortgage fraud scheme in Bergen County, N.J., according to reports.
Last month, three other people, Jamila Davis, Brenda Rickard and Arisma Theodore, were indicted by the Grand Jury in the District of New Jersey, sitting in Newark, in the case.
According to that indictment, the three were involved in a scheme where straw buyers purchased multimillion-dollar properties in Bergen County based on inflated appraisals and falsified financial documents.
It is now alleged that Rodd engaged in a conspiracy to defraud financial institutions between February 2002 and May 2003, reports said.
The indictment said the primary object of the alleged conspiracy was to fraudulently induce lenders to make mortgage loans to straw buyers that were in excess of the purchase price of the properties. The excess mortgage proceeds went to the conspirators, the indictment said.
From February to October 2002, a consultant, mortgage broker and others (the “organizers”) recruited straw buyers to act as purchasers of property in name only in exchange for a fee, reports said. The organizers would enter into contracts to purchase properties, according to reports.
Falsified sales contracts would be prepared without the knowledge of the property sellers, that reflected sales prices higher than the actual sales prices, and the sellers names would be forged on the falsified contracts, reports said.
From April 2002 to November 2002, Rodd manufactured false and fraudulent financial documents in the names of the straw buyers, reports said. These documents included false W-2 forms showing falsely inflated incomes for straw buyers, according to reports.
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