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Mortgage fraud is crime in which the intent is to materially misrepresent or omit information on a mortgage loan application to obtain a loan or to obtain a larger loan than would have been obtained had the lender or borrower known the truth. In United States federal courts, mortgage fraud is prosecuted as wire fraud, bank fraud, mail fraud and money laundering, with penalties of up to thirty years imprisonment.As the incidence of mortgage fraud has risen over the past few years, states have also begun to enact their own penalties for mortgage fraud. Mortgage fraud is not to be confused with predatory mortgage lending, which occurs when a consumer is misled or deceived by agents of the lender. However, predatory lending practices often co-exist with mortgage fraud. Types Occupancy fraud: This occurs where the borrower wishes to obtain a mortgage to acquire an investment property, but states on the loan application that the borrower will occupy the property as the primary residence or as a second home. If undetected, the borrower typically obtains a lower interest rate than was warranted. Because lenders typically charge a higher interest rate for non-owner-occupied properties, which historically have higher delinquency rates, the lender receives insufficient return on capital and is over-exposed to loss relative to what was expected in the transaction. In addition, lenders allow larger loans on owner-occupied homes compared to loans for investment properties. When occupancy fraud occurs, it is likely that taxes on gains are not paid, resulting in additional fraud. It is considered fraud because the borrower has materially misprepresented the risk to the lender to obtain more favorable loan terms. Income fraud: This occurs when a borrower overstates his/her income to qualify for a mortgage or for a larger loan amount. This was most often seen with so-called "stated income" mortgage loans (popularly referred to as "liar loans"), where the borrower, or a l

Mortgage fraud is crime in which the intent is to materially misrepresent or omit information on a mortgage loan application to obtain a loan or to obtain a larger loan than would have been obtained had the lender or borrower known the truth. In United States federal courts, mortgage fraud is prosecuted as wire fraud, bank fraud, mail fraud and money laundering, with penalties of up to thirty years imprisonment.As the incidence of mortgage fraud has risen over the past few years, states have also begun to enact their own penalties for mortgage fraud. Mortgage fraud is not to be confused with predatory mortgage lending, which occurs when a consumer is misled or deceived by agents of the lender. However, predatory lending practices often co-exist with mortgage fraud. Types Occupancy fraud: This occurs where the borrower wishes to obtain a mortgage to acquire an investment property, but states on the loan application that the borrower will occupy the property as the primary residence or as a second home. If undetected, the borrower typically obtains a lower interest rate than was warranted. Because lenders typically charge a higher interest rate for non-owner-occupied properties, which historically have higher delinquency rates, the lender receives insufficient return on capital and is over-exposed to loss relative to what was expected in the transaction. In addition, lenders allow larger loans on owner-occupied homes compared to loans for investment properties. When occupancy fraud occurs, it is likely that taxes on gains are not paid, resulting in additional fraud. It is considered fraud because the borrower has materially misprepresented the risk to the lender to obtain more favorable loan terms. Income fraud: This occurs when a borrower overstates his/her income to qualify for a mortgage or for a larger loan amount. This was most often seen with so-called "stated income" mortgage loans (popularly referred to as "liar loans"), where the borrower, or a l

owers may conceal obligations, such as mortgage loans on other properties or newly acquired credit card debt, to reduce the amount of monthly debt declared on the loan application. This omission of liabilities artificially lowers the debt-to-income ratio, which is a key underwriting criterion used to determine eligibility for most mortgage loans. It is considered fraud because it allows the borrower to qualify for a loan which otherwise would not have been granted, or to qualify for a bigger loan than what would have been granted had the borrower's true debt been disclosed. Fraud for profit: A complex scheme involving multiple parties, including mortgage lending professionals, in a financially motivated attempt to defraud the lender of large sums of money. Fraud for profit schemes frequently include a straw borrower whose credit report is used, a dishonest appraiser who intentionally and significantly overstates the value of the subject property, a dishonest settlement agent who might prepare two sets of HUD settlement statements or makes disbursements from loan proceeds which are not disclosed on the settlement statement, and a property owner, all in a coordinated attempt to obtain an inappropriately large loan. The parties involved share the ill-gotten gains and the mortgage eventually goes into default. In other cases, naive "investors" are lured into the scheme with the organizer's promise that the home will be repaired, repairs and/or renovations will be made, tenants will located, rents will be collected, mortgage payments made and profits will be split upon sale of the property, all without the active participation of the straw buyer. Once the loan is closed, the organizer disappears, no repairs are made nor renters found, and the "investor" is liable for paying the mortgage on a property that is not worth what is owed, leaving the "investor" financially ruined. If undetected, a bank may lend hundreds of thousands of dollars against a property that is act

The insurance fraud in Changwon uncovered by the Financial Supervisory Service is both shocking and disturbing. It involved as many as 1,361 people, mostly residents of the South Gyeongsang Province city, who either posed as fake patients or exaggerated their illnesses. Collectively, they claimed 9.5 billion won from 33 insurance companies between 2007 and 2011. At the center of the scam ― the largest ever in terms of the number of people involved ― were three unconscionable hospitals in the city, which recruited fake patients systematically in cahoots with insurance brokers and solicitors. They did this to increase revenue and ease their financial distress. The main ploy used by the hospitals was to share a patient, meaning they would arrange for a patient to check in the three hospitals alternately for a different disease. For this, they faked his illnesses and prepared false documents. For close cooperation, they shared patient information among themselves. This scheme helped patients pocket more insurance money. They all purchased multiple private health insurance policies before hospitalization. On average they received some 7 million won per person. In one example, a man in his 50s was hospitalized for a total of 564 days over three years, collecting 95 million won in insurance. The Changwon case followed a similar one that took place in Taebaek last November, involving more than 400 people in the declining mining town in Gangwon Province. They got a total of 14 billion won in insurance payments. As with the Changwon scam, three financially distressed hospitals in the city played a central role. The two cases suggest that insurance fraud is a fairly common occurrence in Korea. According to the FSS, the number of insurance-related crimes has surged in recent years. Last year alone, more than 70,000 people were caught for insurance scams, with the amount of false claims they filed reaching 423 billion won. Yet the figure represented just the tip of the

ATLANTA - Cases of residential mortgage fraud reported by institutions in the home financing industry fell last year for the second year in a row, according to a new study. The LexisNexis Risk Solutions Mortgage Fraud Report released Wednesday tracks verified instances of home loan fraud or misrepresentation by mortgage industry professionals, as reported by banks and other financial institutions. The fraud could include a borrower falsifying information on loan documents but only if the borrower was conspiring with a mortgage industry professional. The study found that mortgage fraud reports declined 35 percent between 2010 and 2011. One factor in the decline is that mortgage loan originations sank to their lowest levels since 2001 last year, reflecting a sharp drop in sales of new and previously occupied homes. Another is that fewer mortgage fraud schemes are taking place at the point where a buyer tries to get a home loan. Mortgage fraud involving the buying or selling of homes in some stage of foreclosure is becoming more common, according to the FBI. Mortgage fraud investigations by the FBI resulted in 1,082 convictions in fiscal 2011, the agency has said. Loan application and home appraisal fraud and misrepresentation made up the largest category of fraud type being investigated by lenders last year, according to the LexisNexis study. Among the trends identified in the report: Instances where buyers and sellers potentially colluded in a home sale or purchase transaction are running at an elevated pace. One red flag of collusion in a real estate transaction is when there is an undisclosed relationship between buyer and seller, or agent, which could potentially lead to a conflict of interest. Unless disclosed, real estate transactions are expected to be arm's-length, or with buyer and seller having no relationship to each other. In 2011, lenders reported that transactions where such a relationship was not disclosed declined t

ATLANTA - Cases of residential mortgage fraud reported by institutions in the home financing industry fell last year for the second year in a row, according to a new study. The LexisNexis Risk Solutions Mortgage Fraud Report released Wednesday tracks verified instances of home loan fraud or misrepresentation by mortgage industry professionals, as reported by banks and other financial institutions. The fraud could include a borrower falsifying information on loan documents but only if the borrower was conspiring with a mortgage industry professional. The study found that mortgage fraud reports declined 35 percent between 2010 and 2011. One factor in the decline is that mortgage loan originations sank to their lowest levels since 2001 last year, reflecting a sharp drop in sales of new and previously occupied homes. Another is that fewer mortgage fraud schemes are taking place at the point where a buyer tries to get a home loan. Mortgage fraud involving the buying or selling of homes in some stage of foreclosure is becoming more common, according to the FBI. Mortgage fraud investigations by the FBI resulted in 1,082 convictions in fiscal 2011, the agency has said. Loan application and home appraisal fraud and misrepresentation made up the largest category of fraud type being investigated by lenders last year, according to the LexisNexis study. Among the trends identified in the report: Instances where buyers and sellers potentially colluded in a home sale or purchase transaction are running at an elevated pace. One red flag of collusion in a real estate transaction is when there is an undisclosed relationship between buyer and seller, or agent, which could potentially lead to a conflict of interest. Unless disclosed, real estate transactions are expected to be arm's-length, or with buyer and seller having no relationship to each other. In 2011, lenders reported that transactions where such a relationship was not disclosed d

ATLANTA - Cases of residential mortgage fraud reported by institutions in the home financing industry fell last year for the second year in a row, according to a new study. The LexisNexis Risk Solutions Mortgage Fraud Report released Wednesday tracks verified instances of home loan fraud or misrepresentation by mortgage industry professionals, as reported by banks and other financial institutions. The fraud could include a borrower falsifying information on loan documents but only if the borrower was conspiring with a mortgage industry professional. The study found that mortgage fraud reports declined 35 percent between 2010 and 2011. One factor in the decline is that mortgage loan originations sank to their lowest levels since 2001 last year, reflecting a sharp drop in sales of new and previously occupied homes. Another is that fewer mortgage fraud schemes are taking place at the point where a buyer tries to get a home loan. Mortgage fraud involving the buying or selling of homes in some stage of foreclosure is becoming more common, according to the FBI. Mortgage fraud investigations by the FBI resulted in 1,082 convictions in fiscal 2011, the agency has said. Loan application and home appraisal fraud and misrepresentation made up the largest category of fraud type being investigated by lenders last year, according to the LexisNexis study. Among the trends identified in the report: Instances where buyers and sellers potentially colluded in a home sale or purchase transaction are running at an elevated pace. One red flag of collusion in a real estate transaction is when there is an undisclosed relationship between buyer and seller, or agent, which could potentially lead to a conflict of interest. Unless disclosed, real estate transactions are expected to be arm's-length, or with buyer and seller having no relationship to each other. In 2011, lenders reported that transactions where such a relationship was not disclosed declined to

The insurance fraud in Changwon uncovered by the Financial Supervisory Service is both shocking and disturbing. It involved as many as 1,361 people, mostly residents of the South Gyeongsang Province city, who either posed as fake patients or exaggerated their illnesses. Collectively, they claimed 9.5 billion won from 33 insurance companies between 2007 and 2011. At the center of the scam ― the largest ever in terms of the number of people involved ― were three unconscionable hospitals in the city, which recruited fake patients systematically in cahoots with insurance brokers and solicitors. They did this to increase revenue and ease their financial distress. The main ploy used by the hospitals was to share a patient, meaning they would arrange for a patient to check in the three hospitals alternately for a different disease. For this, they faked his illnesses and prepared false documents. For close cooperation, they shared patient information among themselves. This scheme helped patients pocket more insurance money. They all purchased multiple private health insurance policies before hospitalization. On average they received some 7 million won per person. In one example, a man in his 50s was hospitalized for a total of 564 days over three years, collecting 95 million won in insurance. The Changwon case followed a similar one that took place in Taebaek last November, involving more than 400 people in the declining mining town in Gangwon Province. They got a total of 14 billion won in insurance payments. As with the Changwon scam, three financially distressed hospitals in the city played a central role. The two cases suggest that insurance fraud is a fairly common occurrence in Korea. According to the FSS, the number of insurance-related crimes has surged in recent years. Last year alone, more than 70,000 people were caught for insurance scams, with the amount of false claims they filed reaching 423 billion won. Yet the figure represented just t

The insurance fraud in Changwon uncovered by the Financial Supervisory Service is both shocking and disturbing. It involved as many as 1,361 people, mostly residents of the South Gyeongsang Province city, who either posed as fake patients or exaggerated their illnesses. Collectively, they claimed 9.5 billion won from 33 insurance companies between 2007 and 2011. At the center of the scam ― the largest ever in terms of the number of people involved ― were three unconscionable hospitals in the city, which recruited fake patients systematically in cahoots with insurance brokers and solicitors. They did this to increase revenue and ease their financial distress. The main ploy used by the hospitals was to share a patient, meaning they would arrange for a patient to check in the three hospitals alternately for a different disease. For this, they faked his illnesses and prepared false documents. For close cooperation, they shared patient information among themselves. This scheme helped patients pocket more insurance money. They all purchased multiple private health insurance policies before hospitalization. On average they received some 7 million won per person. In one example, a man in his 50s was hospitalized for a total of 564 days over three years, collecting 95 million won in insurance. The Changwon case followed a similar one that took place in Taebaek last November, involving more than 400 people in the declining mining town in Gangwon Province. They got a total of 14 billion won in insurance payments. As with the Changwon scam, three financially distressed hospitals in the city played a central role. The two cases suggest that insurance fraud is a fairly common occurrence in Korea. According to the FSS, the number of insurance-related crimes has surged in recent years. Last year alone, more than 70,000 people were caught for insurance scams, with the amount of false claims they filed reaching 423 billion won. Yet the figure represented just t

"A Los Angeles man was sentenced to six years in prison last week for his role in a power wheelchair scam, topping what prosecutors say has been a series of Medicare fraud cases. David James Garrison, 50, a former physician assistant, was found guilty by a federal jury for his role in submitting $18.9 million in fraudulent Medicare claims for power wheelchairs and other equipment. The wheelchair case is the third time Garrison has been accused of Medicare fraud. In 2009, Garrison pleaded no contest to tax evasion for his role in what prosecutors described as a fraudulent medical clinic. He pleaded not guilty in October to charges that he forged prescriptions as part of an OxyContin ring that sold 1 million pills on the streets. That case is ongoing. Garrison's attorney did not return a call for comment about the cases. Garrison's physician assistant license lapsed in 2009, said Russ Heimerich, a spokesman for the Department of Consumer Affairs, which oversees many state licensing boards. He said the board examined the tax evasion case and did not see it as grounds for discipline. According to court documents, Garrison's cases involved the use of "cappers" or "marketers" who recruited Medicare beneficiaries to submit to unneeded care or hand over their personal information. That information was used to bill the program for medications, services or supplies that the patients didn't need. In the wheelchair case, prosecuted by the Los Angeles U.S. attorney's office, one witness testified that  marketers had to recruit beneficiaries as far as 300 miles from Los Angeles because so many local people had already been used in other fraud schemes. In the first health fraud case linked to Garrison, he was described as an "at large" suspect in October 2007 when then-Attorney General Jerry Brown announced arrests in a $1.5 million health fraud scam. "The suspects create a fake healthcare clinic to line their own pockets rather than help the sick and elderly," a 20

" http://springhillgrouphome.tumblr.com/day/2012/09/30/ A Los Angeles man was sentenced to six years in prison last week for his role in a power wheelchair scam, topping what prosecutors say has been a series of Medicare fraud cases. David James Garrison, 50, a former physician assistant, was found guilty by a federal jury for his role in submitting $18.9 million in fraudulent Medicare claims for power wheelchairs and other equipment. The wheelchair case is the third time Garrison has been accused of Medicare fraud. In 2009, Garrison pleaded no contest to tax evasion for his role in what prosecutors described as a fraudulent medical clinic. He pleaded not guilty in October to charges that he forged prescriptions as part of an OxyContin ring that sold 1 million pills on the streets. That case is ongoing. Garrison's attorney did not return a call for comment about the cases. Garrison's physician assistant license lapsed in 2009, said Russ Heimerich, a spokesman for the Department of Consumer Affairs, which oversees many state licensing boards. He said the board examined the tax evasion case and did not see it as grounds for discipline. According to court documents, Garrison's cases involved the use of "cappers" or "marketers" who recruited Medicare beneficiaries to submit to unneeded care or hand over their personal information. That information was used to bill the program for medications, services or supplies that the patients didn't need. In the wheelchair case, prosecuted by the Los Angeles U.S. attorney's office, one witness testified that  marketers had to recruit beneficiaries as far as 300 miles from Los Angeles because so many local people had already been used in other fraud schemes. In the first health fraud case linked to Garrison, he was described as an "at large" suspect in October 2007 when then-Attorney General Jerry Brown announced arrests in a $1.5 million health fraud scam. "The suspects create a fake healthcare clinic to

By Romesh Navaratnarajah: Cases of residential mortgage fraud in the US done in collusion with mortgage industry professionals dropped 35 percent between 2010 and 2011, according to the LexisNexis Risk Solutions Mortgage Fraud Report. The report tracked actual cases of mortgage fraud or misrepresentation by mortgage sector professionals, as reported by lenders and other financial institutions. These include cases of borrowers falsifying information on mortgage documents but only if they conspired with mortgage industry professionals. One reason for the significant decline is because mortgage loan originations fell to its lowest level in 2011 since 2001, indicating a sharp reduction in sales of new and previously-occupied homes. Another reason is that fewer fraud schemes are committed when a buyer is trying to get a home loan. However, the FBI noted that loan fraud involving selling or buying homes is more common at some stages of foreclosure, adding that mortgage fraud investigations led to 1,082 convictions in FY 2011. According to the LexisNexis study, home appraisal and loan application fraud, along with misrepresentation, accounted for the biggest category of fraud investigated by lenders in 2011. Related Stories: Fixed-rate mortgage in demand despite cheaper tracker-rate loans 15% discount on mortgages reappears in Shanghai US mortgage rates fall to new record lows More from PropertyGuru: Fixed-rate mortgage in demand despite cheaper tracker-rate loans 15% discount on mortgages reappears in Shanghai US mortgage rates fall to new record lows HK mortgage numbers shrinking

The insurance fraud in Changwon uncovered by the Financial Supervisory Service is both shocking and disturbing. It involved as many as 1,361 people, mostly residents of the South Gyeongsang Province city, who either posed as fake patients or exaggerated their illnesses. Collectively, they claimed 9.5 billion won from 33 insurance companies between 2007 and 2011. At the center of the scam ― the largest ever in terms of the number of people involved ― were three unconscionable hospitals in the city, which recruited fake patients systematically in cahoots with insurance brokers and solicitors. They did this to increase revenue and ease their financial distress. The main ploy used by the hospitals was to share a patient, meaning they would arrange for a patient to check in the three hospitals alternately for a different disease. For this, they faked his illnesses and prepared false documents. For close cooperation, they shared patient information among themselves. This scheme helped patients pocket more insurance money. They all purchased multiple private health insurance policies before hospitalization. On average they received some 7 million won per person. In one example, a man in his 50s was hospitalized for a total of 564 days over three years, collecting 95 million won in insurance. The Changwon case followed a similar one that took place in Taebaek last November, involving more than 400 people in the declining mining town in Gangwon Province. They got a total of 14 billion won in insurance payments. As with the Changwon scam, three financially distressed hospitals in the city played a central role. The two cases suggest that insurance fraud is a fairly common occurrence in Korea. According to the FSS, the number of insurance-related crimes has surged in recent years. Last year alone, more than 70,000 people were caught for insurance scams, with the amount of false claims they filed reaching 423 billion won. Yet the figure represented just th

The insurance fraud in Changwon uncovered by the Financial Supervisory Service is both shocking and disturbing. It involved as many as 1,361 people, mostly residents of the South Gyeongsang Province city, who either posed as fake patients or exaggerated their illnesses. Collectively, they claimed 9.5 billion won from 33 insurance companies between 2007 and 2011. At the center of the scam ― the largest ever in terms of the number of people involved ― were three unconscionable hospitals in the city, which recruited fake patients systematically in cahoots with insurance brokers and solicitors. They did this to increase revenue and ease their financial distress. The main ploy used by the hospitals was to share a patient, meaning they would arrange for a patient to check in the three hospitals alternately for a different disease. For this, they faked his illnesses and prepared false documents. For close cooperation, they shared patient information among themselves. This scheme helped patients pocket more insurance money. They all purchased multiple private health insurance policies before hospitalization. On average they received some 7 million won per person. In one example, a man in his 50s was hospitalized for a total of 564 days over three years, collecting 95 million won in insurance. The Changwon case followed a similar one that took place in Taebaek last November, involving more than 400 people in the declining mining town in Gangwon Province. They got a total of 14 billion won in insurance payments. As with the Changwon scam, three financially distressed hospitals in the city played a central role. The two cases suggest that insurance fraud is a fairly common occurrence in Korea. According to the FSS, the number of insurance-related crimes has surged in recent years. Last year alone, more than 70,000 people were caught for insurance scams, with the amount of false claims they filed reaching 423 billion won. Yet the figure represented just the tip of the

Source : http://newscenter.springhillgrouphome.com/ http://springhillgrouphome.multiply.com/journal/item/59/Springhill_Group_Home_Top_10_Fraud_Schemes Springhill Group Home: Top 10 Fraud Schemes http://newscenter.springhillgrouphome.com/2012/03/springhill-group-home-top-10-fraud-schemes/ For the twelfth successive year, identity theft topped the consumer complaint database of the Federal Trade Commission with the largest number of complaints, perhaps owing to the rampant use (and misuse) of online services such as social networking and e-commerce websites. From the 1.8 million complaints the FTC got in 2011, almost 300,000 are about identity theft. The information of FTC has included complaints filed to them or from other states and federal consumer protection groups. Most of the complaints of identity theft are coming from consumers saying that their personal details are used in government documents without their knowledge, with scammers aiming to collect benefits. Last year, government-related identity theft was 27% of the total complaints in that category, increasing by 11% since 2009. Accounting for the 14% of identity theft complaints is credit card fraud, with the rest consisting of complaints of bank, utilities and phone fraud. More than half of all the complaints last year were related to fraud and taxpayers reportedly paid a total of over USD 1.5 billion in fraudulent schemes, with the average amount paid being USD 537. Moreover, 43% of the victims acknowledged that scammers reached them through email messages. The top three states that have the most per capita rate of fraud reported are Colorado, Delaware and Maryland as first, second and third, respectively. Generally, FTC discovered that people are either more willing to file complaints or they simply have more complaints now. The total amount of complaints they have received has increased by over 20% -- from 1.5 million to 1.8 million in 2011 -- that includes both identity theft and fraud compl

"For the twelfth successive year, identity theft topped the consumer complaint database of the Federal Trade Commission with the largest number of complaints, perhaps owing to the rampant use (and misuse) of online services such as social networking and e-commerce websites.   From the 1.8 million complaints the FTC got in 2011, almost 300,000 are about identity theft. The information of FTC has included complaints filed to them or from other states and federal consumer protection groups.   Most of the complaints of identity theft are coming from consumers saying that their personal details are used in government documents without their knowledge, with scammers aiming to collect benefits. Last year, government-related identity theft was 27% of the total complaints in that category, increasing by 11% since 2009. Accounting for the 14% of identity theft complaints is credit card fraud, with the rest consisting of complaints of bank, utilities and phone fraud.   More than half of all the complaints last year were related to fraud and taxpayers reportedly paid a total of over USD 1.5 billion in fraudulent schemes, with the average amount paid being USD 537. Moreover, 43% of the victims acknowledged that scammers reached them through email messages.   The top three states that have the most per capita rate of fraud reported are Colorado, Delaware and Maryland as first, second and third, respectively.   Generally, FTC discovered that people are either more willing to file complaints or they simply have more complaints now. The total amount of complaints they have received has increased by over 20% - from 1.5 million to 1.8 million in 2011 - that includes both identity theft and fraud complaints.   The following is the complete list of FTC's top 10 consumer complaints for the year 2011:   1. Identity theft 2. Debt collection 3. Lotteries, sweepstakes, prizes 4. Catalog sales, shop-at-home, 5. Lenders and Banks 6. Internet services 7. Auto-re

Source : http://newscenter.springhillgrouphome.com/ Springhill Group Home: Top 10 Fraud Schemes http://newscenter.springhillgrouphome.com/2012/03/springhill-group-home-top-10-fraud-schemes/ For the twelfth successive year, identity theft topped the consumer complaint database of the Federal Trade Commission with the largest number of complaints, perhaps owing to the rampant use (and misuse) of online services such as social networking and e-commerce websites. From the 1.8 million complaints the FTC got in 2011, almost 300,000 are about identity theft. The information of FTC has included complaints filed to them or from other states and federal consumer protection groups. Most of the complaints of identity theft are coming from consumers saying that their personal details are

Scope Note The purpose of this study is to provide insight into the breadth and depth of mortgage fraud crimes perpetrated against the United States and its citizens during 2009. This report updates the 2008 Mortgage Fraud Report and addresses current mortgage fraud projections, issues, and the identification of mortgage fraud "hot spots." The objective of this study is to provide FBI program managers with relevant data to better understand the threat, identify trends, allocate resources, and prioritize investigations. The report was requested by the Financial Crimes Section, Criminal Investigative Division (CID), and prepared by the Financial Crimes Intelligence Unit (FCIU), Directorate of Intelligence (DI). This report is based on FBI, state and local law enforcement, mortgage industry, and open-source reporting. Information was also provided by other government agencies, including the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-Office of Inspector General (HUD-OIG), Federal Housing Administration (FHA), the Federal National Mortgage Association, and the U.S. Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). Industry reporting was obtained from the LexisNexis Mortgage Asset Research Institute (MARI), RealtyTrac, Inc., Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), and Interthinx®. Some industry reporting was acquired through open sources. While the FBI has high confidence in all of these sources, some inconsistencies relative to the cataloging of statistics by some organizations are noted. For example, suspicious activity reports (SARs) are cataloged according to the year in which they are submitted and the information contained within them may describe activity that occurred in previous months or years. The geographic specificity of industry reporting varies as some companies report at the zip code level, and others by city, region, or state. Many of the statistics provided by the external sources, including FinCEN, FHA, and HU

Scope Note The purpose of this study is to provide insight into the breadth and depth of mortgage fraud crimes perpetrated against the United States and its citizens during 2009. This report updates the 2008 Mortgage Fraud Report and addresses current mortgage fraud projections, issues, and the identification of mortgage fraud "hot spots." The objective of this study is to provide FBI program managers with relevant data to better understand the threat, identify trends, allocate resources, and prioritize investigations. The report was requested by the Financial Crimes Section, Criminal Investigative Division (CID), and prepared by the Financial Crimes Intelligence Unit (FCIU), Directorate of Intelligence (DI). This report is based on FBI, state and local law enforcement, mortgage industry, and open-source reporting. Information was also provided by other government agencies, including the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-Office of Inspector General (HUD-OIG), Federal Housing Administration (FHA), the Federal National Mortgage Association, and the U.S. Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). Industry reporting was obtained from the LexisNexis Mortgage Asset Research Institute (MARI), RealtyTrac, Inc., Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), and Interthinx®. Some industry reporting was acquired through open sources. While the FBI has high confidence in all of these sources, some inconsistencies relative to the cataloging of statistics by some organizations are noted. For example, suspicious activity reports (SARs) are cataloged according to the year in which they are submitted and the information contained within them may describe activity that occurred in previous months or years. The geographic specificity of industry reporting varies as some companies report at the zip code level, and others by city, region, or state. Many of the statistics provided by the external sources, including FinCEN, FHA, and HU

Scope Note The purpose of this study is to provide insight into the breadth and depth of mortgage fraud crimes perpetrated against the United States and its citizens during 2009. This report updates the 2008 Mortgage Fraud Report and addresses current mortgage fraud projections, issues, and the identification of mortgage fraud "hot spots." The objective of this study is to provide FBI program managers with relevant data to better understand the threat, identify trends, allocate resources, and prioritize investigations. The report was requested by the Financial Crimes Section, Criminal Investigative Division (CID), and prepared by the Financial Crimes Intelligence Unit (FCIU), Directorate of Intelligence (DI). This report is based on FBI, state and local law enforcement, mortgage industry, and open-source reporting. Information was also provided by other government agencies, including the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-Office of Inspector General (HUD-OIG), Federal Housing Administration (FHA), the Federal National Mortgage Association, and the U.S. Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). Industry reporting was obtained from the LexisNexis Mortgage Asset Research Institute (MARI), RealtyTrac, Inc., Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), and Interthinx®. Some industry reporting was acquired through open sources. While the FBI has high confidence in all of these sources, some inconsistencies relative to the cataloging of statistics by some organizations are noted. For example, suspicious activity reports (SARs) are cataloged according to the year in which they are submitted and the information contained within them may describe activity that occurred in previous months or years. The geographic specificity of industry reporting varies as some companies report at the zip code level, and others by city, region, or state. Many of the statistics provided by the external sources, including FinCEN, FHA, and HUD-OIG,

http://springhillgrouphome.tumblr.com/day/2012/09/30/ A Los Angeles man was sentenced to six years in prison last week for his role in a power wheelchair scam, topping what prosecutors say has been a series of Medicare fraud cases. David James Garrison, 50, a former physician assistant, was found guilty by a federal jury for his role in submitting $18.9 million in fraudulent Medicare claims for power wheelchairs and other equipment. The wheelchair case is the third time Garrison has been accused of Medicare fraud. In 2009, Garrison pleaded no contest to tax evasion for his role in what prosecutors described as a fraudulent medical clinic. He pleaded not guilty in October to charges that he forged prescriptions as part of an OxyContin ring that sold 1 million pills on the streets. That case is ongoing. Garrison's attorney did not return a call for comment about the cases. Garrison's physician assistant license lapsed in 2009, said Russ Heimerich, a spokesman for the Department of Consumer Affairs, which oversees many state licensing boards. He said the board examined the tax evasion case and did not see it as grounds for discipline. According to court documents, Garrison's cases involved the use of "cappers" or "marketers" who recruited Medicare beneficiaries to submit to unneeded care or hand over their personal information. That information was used to bill the program for medications, services or supplies that the patients didn't need. In the wheelchair case, prosecuted by the Los Angeles U.S. attorney's office, one witness testified that marketers had to recruit beneficiaries as far as 300 miles from Los Angeles because so many local people had already been used in other fraud schemes. In the first health fraud case linked to Garrison, he was described as an "at large" suspect in October 2007 when then-Attorney General Jerry Brown announced arrests in a $1.5 million health fraud scam. "The suspects create a fake healthcare clinic to line their own