In Orlando, Florida, 34-year old Edwin M. Lugo-Abreu, has been arrested on an indictment charging him with mortgage fraud.  He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison if he is convicted on all counts.

The indictment says that Lugo-Abreu falsified and fraudulently applied for mortgage financing and fraudulently transferred title ownership of properties used to secure the mortgage financing, a scheme he devised to defraud E-Loan, The Lending Group Inc., and WMC Mortgage Corporation.

In connection with this scheme, three other individuals, Alexis Izazaga, Carlos Valentin and Yariel Valentin, have entered guilty pleas and have also been sentenced.

In October 2008, Izazaga was charged with one count of mail fraud…

Jeffrey Barry who was arrested in Houston, Texas, has been charged with five counts of obtaining mortgage proceeds under false pretenses in a mortgage fraud scheme.  Five fraudulent mortgages worth nearly a half-million dollars were involved.  He shall be extradited to Michigan.

Here is how Barry executed the scheme:  When a homeowner is already at risk of losing his or her home, Barry would approach him or her, offering his services as a “mortgage foreclosure rescue” agent.  He pretends to attempt saving their home from foreclosure by offering to buy it from the homeowner and selling it back to the homeowner under a land contract.  But then, the down payment is…