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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
Sept. 22 , 2009
U.S. ATTORNEY’S GUARDIAN OF JUSTICE AWARD GOES TO BANKRUPTCY ANALYST WHO INVESTIGATED FORECLOSURE SCAM
WICHITA, KAN. – A senior bankruptcy analyst with the United States Trustee in Wichita was the driving force behind a case that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder called one of the Justice Department’s most important prosecutions of a foreclosure rescue scam.
Edward Walsh will receive a Guardian of Justice award from U.S. Attorney Lanny Welch at a ceremony Wednesday when the Kansas Association of Chiefs of Police holds its Fall Conference in Hutchinson.
At a press conference in April in Washington, D.C., Attorney General Holder cited the prosecution of Isaac Yass and Robert Blechman in U.S. District court in Kansas as an outstanding example of the Justice Department’s drive to protect homeowners from fraudulent mortgage schemes.
“The Attorney General didn’t mention Ed’s name,” said U.S. Attorney Lanny Welch. “But we know how hard Ed worked on that case and we want to give him credit for it.”
In January 2009, a jury convicted Yass and Blechman on charges of mail fraud, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy. During trial, Walsh took the stand and guided jurors through the complicated scam. Yass and Blechman operated a fraudulent service called Stopco falsely claiming to be able to save homeowners who were behind on their mortgage from losing their homes. They solicited homeowners who were going through foreclosure. For a fee, they filed fraudulent bankruptcy petitions in federal bankruptcy courts in Wichita, Topeka and Kansas City, Kan., as well as Maryland and Tennessee. The petitions were filed in the name of nonexistent individuals with businesses that claimed to be part owners of properties that were in foreclosure. The result was an automatic stay in foreclosures, halting further actions by creditors against the properties – but only until the fraud was discovered.
Walsh worked for months leading up to trial putting the case together, identifying witnesses and exhibits. He flew to Los Angeles to assist agents in a search of the defendants’ business and homes. He assisted in the interview of the defendant Yass, and he assisted in searching and seizing from Yass’ office and business more than $600,000 in assets that were used as evidence to convict Yass and to obtain a preliminary order of forfeiture against the defendants for more than $1.9 million.
“Without Ed’s involvement, this case could not have been successfully prosecuted,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Hathaway, who prosecuted the case along with Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Kenney.
Also receiving a Guardian of Justice Award Wednesday will be Karrina Brasser, a Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Detective who led an investigation resulting in the conviction of more than two dozen defendants on federal charges and overturning a drug trafficking operation that in 2006 and 2007 distributed more than 24,000 pills of methylenedioxymethamphetamine, commonly known as MDMA or Ecstasy.
Guardian of Justice awards are given annually to federal and state or local law enforcement officers in recognition of outstanding service provided in the prosecution of significant cases by the United States Attorney’s office. The awards are the highest recognition given to a member of the law enforcement community by the United States Attorney’s office. Nominations for the awards come from prosecuting attorneys who worked with the nominees.
The Guardian award ceremony is scheduled for noon Wednesday in the Apollo Room at the Grand Prairie Hotel, 1400 N. Lorraine, in Hutchinson, Kan. The ceremony is open to the media. For more information, call Jim Cross, public information office, at (316) 269-6481.
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