Managers Sentenced To Prison In Loan Modification Fraud Scheme Case

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Paula Reid, Special Agent in Charge, United States Secret Service (USSS), Miami Field Office, and Ronald J. Verrochio, Inspector in Charge, United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), Miami Division, announce that Ajay Thuraisingham, 27, of Ontario, Canada, and co-defendant Christopher Duharte, 36, of Coconut Creek, were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra to 54 months in prison, and to 30 months in prison, respectively. Both defendants were also sentenced to three years of supervised release and payment of restitution in an amount to be determined. Both defendants previously pled guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, and mail fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1349 and 1341.

Eight of ten defendants charged in this case have pled guilty to the charges, which involved a scheme to bilk thousands of homeowners who were struggling to make their mortgage payments. Defendants Jason Vitulano and Jeffrey Taylor are currently set for trial starting on November 10, 2014.

According to the indictment and other documents filed in the case, between September 2008 and August 2009, the defendants operated boiler rooms that collected advance fees from distressed homeowners purportedly in exchange for obtaining loan modifications for the homeowners which were, with few exceptions, never provided.

The other defendants who have previously pled guilty include the following, with their respective scheduled sentencing dates:

Brian Fleuridor, 30, of Delray Beach, sentencing set for September 5, 2014 at 2:30 p.m.

Peter Brown, 27, of Sound Beach, NY, sentencing set for August 1, 2014 at 9:30 a.m.

Neil Sack, 40, of Ft. Lauderdale, sentencing set for August 8, 2014 at 2:00 p.m.

Gregory Small, 29, of Boca Raton, sentencing set for August 8, 2014 at 1:30 p.m.

Arthur Fogarty, 57, of Hollywood, sentencing set for August 15, 2014 at 11:30 a.m.

Robert Bacon, 35, West Newbury, MA, sentencing set for August 15, 2014 at 3:00 p.m.

The indictment alleges that Jason Vitulano was the organizer and operator of FHA All Day.com, Inc. and two other companies, Housing Assistance Law Center, Inc. and Safety Financial Corp., which operated the boiler rooms in Boca Raton and later in Deerfield Beach. According to the indictment and the factual proffers submitted in support of the guilty pleas, Robert Bacon was an operations manager who wrote and edited sales scripts, while the other eight defendants served as team managers of four to eight telemarketers who made thousands of phone calls to homeowners behind on their mortgage payments.

As alleged in the indictment, the defendants made false statements to the homeowners including telling homeowners they had already been approved or pre-approved for a loan modification that would save the homeowner a specific amount off their mortgage payment, reducing the interest rate and often the principal balance on the mortgage loan. The defendants, according to the indictment, routinely told customers that they had been approved by an “underwriter” and that they had a team of “expert attorneys” who would finalize the loan modifications.

The indictment further alleges that the defendants targeted homeowners across the country who were facing foreclosure, falsely telling them that the company would stop the foreclosure process and that homeowners could stop making mortgage payments while they waited for the company to finalize their loan modifications. FHA All Day, as alleged in the indictment, moved its offices and changed the corporate name several times to avoid law enforcement scrutiny and to hamper consumer complaints. Through the use of these and other false representations, the defendants, according to the indictment, induced over 2,000 distressed homeowners to pay up front fees totaling more than seven million dollars to the defendants.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of USSS and USPIS. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Jorgensen in the West Palm Beach Office.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.