Three Kiryas Joel residents were arrested early Thursday morning as part of an investigation in which they and 12 people from Brooklyn and Monsey have been charged with mortgage fraud, bank fraud and public-assistance fraud, according to law enforcement officials and a federal indictment unsealed Thursday. Officials were set to hold a press conference at noon to discuss the charges, which originated about three years ago with an investigation of a bad check conducted by an Orange County Sheriff’s investigator, Sgt. Meredith McGovern. Sheriff Carl DuBois, who will be speaking at the press conference, said Thursday morning that McGovern’s probe produced findings that ultimately were presented to the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office for further investigation. The indictment alleges that the suspects fraudulently obtained more than $20 million in mortgages and other loans by lying about their employment, income, assets and primary residences. They defaulted on most of those loans, leaving millions of dollars of debt unpaid, authorities charged. A dozen of the suspects are related, and two others are an attorney and an appraiser accused of helping carry out the fraudulent activities. Most of the mortgaged properties are in Brooklyn. One is on Kosnitz Drive in Kiryas Joel. Authorities say the crimes date back at least a decade and have continued to the present. The suspects allegedly used the fraudulently obtained loans to pay credit card debts, make mortgage payments on their homes and finance development projects that generated rental income for them, among other purposes. According to the indictment, seven of the defendants claimed poverty to collect food stamps and heat payments and to enroll in Medicaid, while reporting high incomes on their loan applications to qualify for the borrowing. Suspects include Irving Rubin and his wife, Desiree, two of their sons and the sons’ wives, and three of Irving Rubin’s brothers. One of his sons, Yehuda, who lives in Kiryas Joel, is described as an organizer of the schemes and participant in at least 10 fraudulent loans. Also charged are attorney Marin Kofman and appraiser Pinchus Glauber. One scheme alleged in the indictment is that suspects claimed to borrow money to buy or refinance a mortgage for their primary residences, but diverted the money to other defendants or entities they controlled. Suspects are also accused of transferring ownership of properties to thwart attempts by lenders to recoup their money. Federal agents arrested 13 of the 15 suspects in pre-dawn raids Thursday in Kiryas Joel, Monsey and the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. They are due to be arraigned Thursday in U.S. District Court in White Plains. Documents here: recordonline/article/20141113/NEWS/141119712
Posted on: Thu, 13 Nov 2014 18:44:17 +0000
Trending Topics
© 2015