Fri, Feb 28, 2014

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/latestnews/20-arrested-for-bank-fraud--money-laundering-in-Puerto-Rico

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (CMC) – The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency says 20 individuals, including ringleaders, straw buyers, sellers, real estate agents, and an accountant have been arrested in 10 different municipalities for bank fraud and money laundering.

ICE said the charges stemmed from a scheme to obtain money from mortgage lending institutions and resulted from an investigation conducted by its Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and US Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

“These arrests are a reflection of the success that comes when federal, state and local law enforcement agencies work together to target criminal organisations and individuals in Puerto Rico,” said Angel Melendez, special agent in charge of HSI San Juan.

“At HSI, we follow the money trail to identify, disrupt and dismantle the most complicated financial schemes and seize criminal assets,” he added.

”We will continue to aggressively investigate fraudulent financial schemes that put in jeopardy the integrity of our financial system and are often a gateway to further criminal activity.”

As part of the fraudulent scheme, ICE said the defendants purchased properties through straw buyers by obtaining mortgage loans from US federally-insured financial institutions “in amounts substantially exceeding the sales price of the properties.”

The defendants would receive the excess amount of the loans. Then, they would default on payment of the monthly mortgage premiums, ICE said.

“In order to ensure loan approval, the participants of the conspiracy created and submitted false supporting documentation such as financial statements, bank statements, employment verification letters and tax returns, among other items, with the loan application,” the statement said.

According to the indictment, the defendants “aided and abetted each other and knowingly made false statements to various financial institutions to obtain mortgage loans.”

The financial institutions are Banco Santander de Puerto Rico, Doral Bank, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, and RG Premier Bank of Puerto Rico.

The defendants face up to 30 years in prison and fines of up to US$1 million.