Latest news with #mortgageFraud
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Regina Hill's team wants key witness barred from testifying
Attorneys for suspended Orlando Commissioner Regina Hill have asked a judge to bar a key witness from testifying against her, saying she has exhibited a pattern of dishonest behavior as the attorneys gear up for trial. Sandra Lewis, a notary whose stamp and signature appear on a mortgage application Hill filed several years ago, gave evasive, contradictory, and sometimes false answers to questions Hill's attorneys threw her way, they claimed. The filing said Lewis feigned a lack of memory when answering basic background questions and tried to obscure the work she did for Shan Rose, a political opponent of Hill's, and Andrew Bain, who served as state attorney when Hill was arrested and charged. The document also stated Lewis was paid for political activities through her beauty school, which she failed to answer questions about. 'The notion that the State would proceed with this witness is disturbing,' attorneys wrote. 'She had two opportunities to provide truthful sworn testimony with an intervening period to consult with the State and a lawyer. Yet, she consistently engaged in deception and obstruction.' Lewis's, testimony would help prosecutors prove their accusations that Hill committed mortgage fraud when she applied for a loan in the name of a 96-year-old constituent without the woman's consent. WFTV interviewed Lewis shortly after the accusations against Hill became public last year. She admitted her stamp was on the document but pointed to several inconsistencies with the application and suggested the document had been altered. Lewis did not immediately return a request for comment Saturday. Hill is facing a maximum 180 years in prison if convicted, though she'd likely be sentenced to significantly less time. She said all accusations against her are false, and she had permission to apply for the mortgage, live in one of the woman's houses and spend the woman's money. Her trial is expected to take place in the fall. It's not clear if it will happen before or after she faces Rose in her fight to regain her commission seat in Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
CBC
6 days ago
- Business
- CBC
5-year CRA investigation into B.C. ‘shadow broker' doomed by ‘technicality'
The CBC has obtained documents that shed new light onto an alleged half-billion-dollar mortgage fraud case involving a so-called "shadow" mortgage broker. The case has resulted in fines, license cancellations and suspensions, but there have never been any charges. CBC's Jason Proctor explains why.
CBC
6 days ago
- Business
- CBC
5-year Canada Revenue Agency investigation into B.C. 'shadow broker' doomed by 'technicality'
Federal prosecutors decided not to lay charges stemming from a five-year Canada Revenue Agency investigation into a half-billion-dollar alleged mortgage fraud case because of a "technicality," according to documents obtained by the CBC. The documents — released through freedom of information — detail attempts by B.C.'s financial regulator to interest law enforcement agencies in a so-called 'shadow' mortgage broker and the more than two dozen real estate professionals who assisted him. B.C. Financial Services Agency investigators spoke with Vancouver police and the RCMP about their probe into Jay Kanth Chaudhary. The documents say the CRA ultimately pursued allegations that the unregistered broker had failed to pay nearly $1 million in taxes. But last summer, a senior investigator with the CRA's western region criminal investigations division wrote to a legal manager for B.C.'s Financial Services Agency to tell her the investigation was over. "Unfortunately, due to a technicality, the Public Prosecution Service of Canada has decided not to lay charges for this investigation," Aaron Altrows wrote in an email. "All is not lost, though, as I did refer this case to the civil side of CRA, where assessments were completed. This was an excellent referral and very much appreciated to come from your agency. Please continue to send us referrals in the future." 'Staggering' scope of activities The documents provide new insight into a multi-year investigation into Chaudhary and the network of real estate agents and mortgage brokers who fronted his efforts to secure $500 million in financing for unqualified homebuyers through altered tax and bank statements. The nature of the "technicality" that voided the laying of even tax-related charges is not explained in the FOI documents, and the Public Prosecution Service said it would "not comment on investigations that it may or may not be undertaking." BCFSA's director of investigations, Raheel Humayun, has called the scope of Chaudhary's unregistered activities "staggering" — not to mention the number of licensed professionals who violated ethical and professional codes to help him. But beyond licence suspensions, cancellations and fines up to a maximum of $50,000, no one associated with the scheme appears to have faced any criminal sanctions. BCFSA documents show it wasn't for lack of trying. '30 possibly associated individuals' A "case note" claims investigators for the regulator met with members of the Vancouver police department's financial crime unit on April 3, 2019, "to discuss whether VPD would entertain pursuing this file from a criminal perspective." Another "case note" for the same day says staff also met RCMP "to discuss whether this investigation was aligned with the current mandate of the Financial Integrity Unit and whether there would be any interest in taking on this file from a criminal perspective." The documents show senior RCMP investigators then appeared to take a second look at the file four years later — long after the case had started making headlines and after Chaudhary was summoned as a witness to a provincial commission into money laundering. Humayun wrote a memo in January 2023 to two inspectors with the Federal and Serious Organized Crime unit, "describing the potentially criminal activity we have observed during our regulatory investigations." "The names, DOBs and basic allegations against ... these 30 possibly associated individuals are contained within an appendix to the letter," he wrote. "Our office is available to provide further details, including the evidence or reports in our possession." But nothing happened. In a statement, the VPD said the alleged violations were "primarily regulatory in nature" — meaning the BCFSA was the best body to investigate. The RCMP did not explain its decision not to proceed, refusing to "confirm the identity of any person, business or entity who may or may not be subject of an investigation." 'Falsely reporting their income to CRA' The Canada Revenue Agency started showing interest in the summer of 2019. An email written as a "potential lead" from BCFSA investigator Doug Brecknell to CRA Criminal Investigations lays out the regulator's grounds for suspicion. "From the evidence and documents produced by the real estate licensees, it appears that the real estate licensees may have been under or falsely reporting their income to CRA," Brecknell wrote. "Both false and believed to be genuine tax documents for the real estate licensees were obtained. A review of tax documents ... indicates that it would be unlikely that the real estate licensees' reported income would be sufficient to afford the mortgage payments being made." In the months that followed, the CRA got a warrant to seize records the registrar of mortgage brokers had already taken from Chaudhary and Shane Christopher Ballard — a former mortgage broker who later admitted facilitating 165 applications for Chaudhary. Allegations of unremitted taxes The application to obtain the search warrant says CRA investigators believed Chaudhary — also known as Mike Kumar or Jay Michaels — "earned $5,283,347 of client fees and $642,344 of referral fees" between 2009 and 2019. "It is alleged that between 2012 and 2018 the unreported net business income, unremitted income tax and unremitted Goods and Services Tax/Harmonized Sales Tax is estimated to be $2,967,915, $798,505 and $163,033, respectively," the search warrant says. "It is further alleged that the estimated unremitted Canada Pension Plan contributions for this period is $23,623." The search warrant gives an example of a businessman who paid Chaudhary nearly $5,000 — one per cent of the mortgage principal — to arrange home financing for his son using faked tax documents. The documents say Ballard then paid Chaudhary a $1,250 fee for the mortgage referral he got to submit the application to CMLS Financial. Ballard allegedly paid Chaudhary a total of $282,900 in cash as referral fees for the mortgage applications he handled between 2015 and 2018. Earlier this year, Ballard — who now works as a home inspector — was banned for life from being a mortgage broker and ordered to pay a $50,000 fine. At the time of Chaudhary's Cullen Commission testimony in February 2021, his lawyer said the CRA's investigation was in "charge approval." The "technicality" appears to have arisen between then and 2024. Once the CRA dropped the criminal investigation last summer, the agency returned the investigation files to the regulator. 'I don't think it can be prevented' Many of the real estate agents who brought clients to Chaudhary took advantage of his services themselves, including two individuals stripped of their licenses earlier this year in a series of actions the regulator took against the "extensive web" of people around the shadow broker. One of them admitted to using fake financial statements to buy a house a year after she declared a negative annual income of $459. Chaudhary was licensed as a mortgage broker from 2007 to 2008, when he was suspended following an investigation which found he had submitted falsified records for a range of clients. He spoke about his activities at length at the Cullen Commission on money laundering in 2021, maintaining that he helped clients who might not meet an institutional lender's qualifications avoid the dangerous world of private lenders. Chaudhary claimed none of his clients ever defaulted on a loan, none of the banks that gave them money were ever hurt, and a booming B.C. real estate market meant he was always busy. "In reality, I don't think it can be prevented," he told the commission at one point.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Conservatives celebrate after Trump admin refers NY AG Letitia James for potential prosecution: ‘Karma'
Droves of conservatives relished the prospect of New York's Attorney General Letitia James having to 'eat her own words' after the Trump administration referred her for potential federal prosecution over alleged mortgage fraud. Critics quickly seized on James' own declaration that 'no one is above the law' after news broke Tuesday that she had been hit with a criminal referral for allegedly committing financial fraud to secure her own favorable property loans. James blasted out the now-infamous phrase when her office opted to target the Trump Organization for overinflating the values of many of its properties in a civil fraud trial that ended with a $454 million judgment. Republican lawmakers and conservative commentators were quick to boast that 'karma' was coming for the AG — gloating that 'the tables have now turned.' 'No one is above the law!' US Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) blasted out on X. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) added: 'Letitia James engaged in some of the most shameful, partisan lawfare against President Trump — based on far less evidence than this.' 'These allegations must be investigated thoroughly,' Sen. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) declared. And Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) mocked the AG's prior remarks, tweeting: 'Something, something… no one is above the law.' Trump administration refers NY AG Letitia James for potential prosecution over alleged mortgage fraud Conservatives celebrate after Trump admin refers NY AG Letitia James for potential prosecution: 'Karma' Letitia 'no one is above the law' James dodges questions about mortgage fraud scandal outside NYC home, pretends to be on phone A slew of right-leaning commentators also piled on, with Jonathan Turley, a legal expert and Post columnist, saying 'the irony is crushing.' 'She previously prosecuted Trump for everything short of ripping a label off a mattress. She emphasized that Trump was ultimately responsible for any filings made in his name or that of his company,' he wrote in an X post. 'The greatest danger for Letitia James may be if the Letitia James standard is applied to her case. She emphasized that such technicalities matter and that the powerful should not be given a free pass under these laws.' Outkick founder Clay Travis also chimed in, posting: 'New York AG Letitia James being prosecuted for lying about her assets to get a mortgage after prosecuting Trump for lying about his assets to get a bank loan would be too perfect. They always accuse you of what they actually did.' View this document on Scribd The gleeful reaction came just hours after Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director William Pulte sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy AG Todd Blanche, alleging that James had 'falsified records' to get home loans for a Virginia property she claimed as her 'principal residence' in 2023. The alleged offense unfolded in late August 2023 — just weeks before James began her civil fraud trial against Trump's business. 'Ms. James was the sitting Attorney General of New York and is required by law to have her primary residence in the state of New York — even though her mortgage applications list her intent to have the Norfolk, VA, property as her primary home,' the letter stated. 'It appears Ms. James' property and mortgage-related misrepresentations may have continued to her recent 2023 Norfolk, VA property purchase in order to secure a lower interest rate and more favorable loan terms.' The AG's Office put out a statement in the aftermath, vowing not to be intimidated by the Trump admin's directive. 'Attorney General James is focused every single day on protecting New Yorkers, especially as this Administration weaponizes the federal government against the rule of law and the Constitution,' a spokesman from her office said in a statement. 'She will not be intimidated by bullies — no matter who they are.'
South China Morning Post
08-05-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
FBI opens criminal investigation into Trump legal foe Letitia James
The FBI has opened a criminal investigation into mortgage fraud allegations against New York Attorney General Letitia James, who US President Donald Trump has publicly targeted because she pursued legal action against him, several American media outlets reported on Thursday. Advertisement James has joined attorneys general from other states in challenging Trump's second-term agenda. After Trump's first term in office, she brought a civil fraud lawsuit against him that resulted in millions of dollars of penalties. Trump has called for the prosecution of James and New York State Justice Arthur Engoron, the judge who oversaw that case. Last month, Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William Pulte, a Trump appointee, sent a letter to the US Justice Department alleging James 'falsified records' to obtain favourable loans on a home she bought in 2023 in Virginia and Brooklyn, the New York Post reported. In a statement, James' lawyer Abbe Lowell called the allegations 'baseless and long-discredited'. 'This appears to be the political retribution President Trump threatened to exact,' Lowell said. 'If prosecutors are genuinely interested in the truth, we are prepared to meet false claims with facts.' Advertisement The Washington Post said it is believed to be the first criminal investigation by the administration involving a law enforcement official who took action against Trump.
