Federal prosecutors say they have attributed more than $100 million in losses to about 50 people accused of mortgage fraud in northern and eastern Virginia since the beginning of 2009.
The cases have been piling up in the Alexandria-based Eastern District of Virginia’s U.S. Attorney’s Office since the peak of the real estate boom as prosecutors have sought to stem the mortgage fraud tide that has plagued the region. According to a recent report, Virginia jumped from the 24th-ranked state in terms of mortgage fraud in 2005 to No. 10 in the country in 2009.
But U.S. Attorney Neil MacBride, whose office prosecutes crimes from Northern Virginia to Norfolk, told the Washington Examiner that he hopes recent sentences putting fraudsters for up to 30 years will start sending the message: “Crime pays, but only for a while.”
MacBride said he hopes U.S. District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee will take advantage of the next opportunity to hand out a stiff sentence on Friday when he determines how long Northern Virginia real estate agent Ruben Rojas spends in prison for the nearly $10 million in losses caused by his mortgage fraud scheme. Rojas, along with his brothers and sister, recruited people who were able to buy multiple properties without any down payments by lying on their mortgage applications with Rojas’ help. The scheme was busted by Fairfax County detectives and the FBI who began an investigation after receiving hundreds of complaints that houses owned by Rojas’ buyers were packed with multiple families. Rojas could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison, just one-third of the 30 years Virginia Beach lawyer Troy Titus was sentenced to last month for his $10 million mortgage fraud scheme. According to prosecutors, Titus promised struggling homeowners he’d help them get out of debt if they handed their home titles over to him. He then rounded up investors to help cover the mortgage costs, but kept the cash for himself instead of sending it to lenders. MacBride said his office, the FBI and local police continue to receive a heavy dose of mortgage fraud complaints, which has led him to pour resources into the fight. He added, “as Virginia has jumped in the mortgage fraud rankings, we hope that prosecutions will have an arrested effect on mortgage fraudsters.”
