Broward Man Pleads Guilty in Four Cases Involving Versailles Mortgage Fraud Schemes

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; John V. Gillies, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office; Jose A. Gonzalez, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Criminal Investigation Division; Michael K. Fithen, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Secret Service; Jeff Atwater, Chief Financial Officer, Florida’s Department of Financial Services; Addy M. Villanueva, Special Agent in Charge, Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE); and the Palm Beach County Mortgage Fraud Task Force announced that defendant David Lam, 42, a real estate agent from Parkland, Florida, pled guilty today before U.S. District Judge Kenneth A. Marra for his participation in mortgage fraud schemes relating to properties in the Versailles development in Wellington, Florida.

Lam was charged and pled guilty to charges arising in four separate indictments. In all, he pled guilty to four counts of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349, and three counts of conspiracy to commit money laundering, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1956(h).

To date, five co-defendants have pled guilty and four have been sentenced.

Defendant Carl Alexander, 45, of Parkland, Florida, pled guilty on October 5, 2011 to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1956(h). He was sentenced on January 6, 2012 before U.S. District Judge Kenneth A. Marra to 48 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. The court also ordered defendant Alexander to pay $3,256,724 in restitution.

Defendant Carol Asbury, 59, an attorney and title agent in Lake Worth, Florida, pled guilty on September 9, 2011 to two counts of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349, and two counts of conspiracy to commit money laundering, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1956(h). Asbury was charged and pled guilty to charges arising in two indictments, both of which alleged mortgage fraud in the Versailles development. Asbury was sentenced on November 18, 2011 before U.S. District Judge Kenneth A. Marra to 30 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. She was also ordered to pay $6,510,291 in restitution.

Defendant Patrick Brinson, 34, of Miami, Florida, pled guilty on September 7, 2011 to two counts of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1956(h). Brinson pled guilty to charges arising in two indictments, one of which alleged mortgage fraud in Versailles and one of which alleged a separate mortgage fraud scheme in Miami. Brinson was sentenced on November 29, 2011 before U.S. District Judge Patricia A. Seitz to 78 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. A restitution hearing is scheduled before Judge Seitz for February 17, 2012.

Defendant Pamela Higgins, a mortgage broker who lived in Arizona at the time of the offense, pled guilty on November 4, 2012 to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and financial institution fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code Section 1349, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, in violation of Title 18, United States Code Section 1956(h). Higgins is scheduled to be sentenced before U.S. District Judge Kenneth A. Marra on February 10, 2012.

Defendant Victoria Wilson, 30, a mortgage broker from Hollywood, Florida, pled guilty on August 19, 2011 to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349. Wilson was sentenced on November 30, 2011 before U.S. District Judge Kenneth A. Marra to 24 months in prison, to be followed by two years of supervised release. Wilson was ordered to pay $1,655,466 in restitution.

According to court documents, in all four of the Versailles-related indictments, the defendants used “straw buyers” to submit false documentation to various mortgage lenders substantially inflating the purchase price of the properties. As part of the conspiracy, double HUD-1 Settlement Statements were prepared. One set with the real price was provided to the seller and another set with the inflated price was provided to the lender. The difference between the real price and the inflated price was either made to appear as if it were a debt owed to business entities controlled by the defendants and their co-conspirators, or was made to appear as profits to the seller. The fraudulent loan proceeds were then laundered through multiple accounts to conceal the source and distribution of the money and were ultimately used for the benefit of the defendants and their co-conspirators. In sum, the schemes alleged in the four indictments to which Lam pled guilty involved more than $15 million in mortgage loans on 12 Versailles properties, and more than $5 million in fraudulent loan proceeds.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the FBI, IRS Criminal Investigation Division, Florida’s Department of Financial Services, FDLE, U.S. Secret Service, and the Palm Beach County Mortgage Fraud Task Force. The cases are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stephanie Evans, Ellen Cohen, Carolyn Bell and Armando Rosquete.

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.