South Florida Mortgage Fraud Task Force Arrests Seven

As seven more have been arrested for mortgage fraud new legislation is being proposed to increase criminal penalties for people convicted of mortgage fraud.

This proposed legislation would allow property appraisers to revalue assessments in neighborhoods where inflated values have driven property taxes up for homeowners. It would also create a statewide mortgage fraud task force to put a stop to Florida mortgage fraud.

The recent arrests were made by the Miami-Dade mortgage fraud task force. This task force was created in September due to the growing amount of mortgage fraud. The arrests included :

• Rafael Diaz, accused of defrauding a lender by enlisting the help of a straw buyer, loan processor and others for the fraudulent purchase of a property located in Tavernier. The property was closing for $800,000, but fraudulent documents listed it for $1.8 million, leaving $1 million for Diaz and others involved.
• Mariana Navarrete, accused of selling a residence to a buyer twice, as the victim obtained two mortgages for $415,000 each. Alvarez said she used a quit claim deed to transfer ownership to a company she was affiliated with, leaving the victim with a mortgage, but no property. Last month, Navarrete was arrested and accused of recruiting family members to steal the identity of an employee and using it to take out loans.
• Richard Jacob Gutierrez, accused of obtaining a $260,000 mortgage from a private lender on a home that didn’t exist. Gutierrez proclaimed to be the owner of the property, used as collateral for the loan.

To read more about task force arrests seven for mortgage fraud head over to the South Florida Business Journal.