Federal Grand Jury Indictments Have Wexford Connections

A federal grand jury in Pittsburgh has returned a six-count indictment against three individuals – including one with a Wexford connection – that charges them with mail fraud, mail fraud conspiracy and money laundering in connection with a mortgage fraud scheme, according to U.S. Attorney David J. Hickton.

 James C. Platts, 59, of P.O. Box 1168, Wexford; Deean Haggerty, 36, of 112 Oticon Drive, New Castle; and Bernard J. Flugher, 62, of 202 Sandalwood Drive, Cranberry Township, were indicted Tuesday.

 Platts was the president and treasurer of Easy Realty Solutions; Haggerty was employed with S&P Mortgage; and Flugher was an attorney who conducted real estate closings with an office in Cranberry Township, the U.S. attorney’s office said.       

 Altogether 14 people were charged in seven mortgage fraud schemes in the Greater Pittsburgh area as officials marked the three-year anniversary of the Feb. 4 founding of the Western Pennsylvania Mortgage Fraud Task Force.

 “The individuals charged include a wide spectrum of roles associated with mortgage fraud, including a closing attorney, mortgage brokers, real estate investors, and a bank employee,” according to a U.S attorney’s office statement. “The seven schemes involved approximately 320 properties and $75 million in fraudulent loans.

 In one of those cases Dean Rodriquez, 41, of 300 Wexford Bayne Road in Wexford, was charged Tuesday with one count of wire fraud conspiracy.

 Rodriguez allegedly was a mortgage broker who assisted borrowers in obtaining financing that was collateralized by real estate through Alico Mortgage and U.S. Funding Partners, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

 Between August 2004 and May 2006, Rodriguez allegedly participated in a conspiracy in which he submitted loan applications to lenders that contained material misrepresentations, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

 The misrepresentations included information that the borrowers intended to reside at the properties that served as collateral for the loans, and that overstated the borrowers' incomes and assets, said the U.S. attorney’s office.

 “The settlement statements associated with the loan closings were also fraudulent in that they falsely represented that the borrowers had made down payments associated with the closings, when, in fact, they had not,” the U.S. attorney’s office said.

 The case involving Platts, Haggerty and Flugher alleges they submitted fraudulent documents “falsely verifying that borrowers paid rent and falsely verifying borrowers' bank account balances,” a statement from the U.S. attorney’s office says.

 “The scheme also involved fraudulent loan applications that overstated the income and assets of borrowers, and the deposit of funds into borrowers' accounts to make it falsely appear as though they had the assets to make the down payment required at closing.

 “The real estate closing involved fraudulent settlement statements that falsely reported that the borrowers had made substantial down payments associated with the purchase of the properties. The settlement statements also included payments to Platts for fraudulent liens that had been filed against the properties serving as collateral for the loans,” the U.S. attorney’s statement said.

 In connection with one of the transactions involving property located as 2918 Shadeland Ave. in Pittsburgh, the indictment alleges that Flugher purchased a bank check in an amount equal to the amount that the borrowers were supposed to bring to the closing from the borrowers' own fund and then deposited that check back into his account, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

 “Flugher, however, provided a copy of that check to the lender as if the check had been presented to him by the borrowers at the closing as their down payment,” the statement said. “Flugher also prepared and submitted to the lender a fraudulent settlement statement that falsely reported that the borrowers had made a substantial down payment when, in fact, they had not.”