Foreclosure Services Company Indicted For Forging Mortgage Documents

February 16, 2012

fraud handcuffs small 300x199 Foreclosure Services Company Indicted For Forging Mortgage Documents A Missouri grand jury has indicted a home foreclosure services company on criminal charges of forging mortgage documents which were used to evict financially struggling homeowners from their homes. The company, DocX, is accused of engaging in 136 counts of forgery, with its founder and former president, Lorraine O. Brown, being indicted on the same charges.

DocX was closed in 2010 after its parent company, Lender Processing Services of Jacksonville, Florida, learned of evidence that it was engaging in what has now become known as robo-signing, i.e., executing and notarizing thousands of forged mortgage documents for large banks and loan servicers.

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California Elementary School Removes Sexual Assault Allegation From 6-Year-Old’s Record

February 15, 2012

scales injustice xsmall 300x238 California Elementary School Removes Sexual Assault Allegation From 6 Year Old’s RecordAn elementary school in Hercules, California has removed a sexual assault allegation from a 6-year-old’s school record after his mother hired an attorney and threatened legal action against the school district.

The sexual assault allegation was placed on the school record of the first grader, who was also immediately suspended, after the school principal, Cynthia Taylor, learned that the boy had allegedly touched the groin or upper thigh of another first-grade student during some rough playing in the schoolyard during recess.

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Man Pleads Guilty To $1.1 Million Mortgage Fraud Scheme In Rhode Island

February 14, 2012

crime handcuffs xsmall 300x199 Man Pleads Guilty To $1.1 Million Mortgage Fraud Scheme In Rhode IslandA disbarred lawyer from Rhode Island recently pleaded guilty in federal court to three counts of bank fraud and two counts of filing false federal tax returns in relation to a $1.1 million mortgage fraud scheme.

According to prosecutors, James Levitt, 66, admitted to submitting fraudulent applications in order to obtain mortgage financing so as to buy two properties from a friend who was facing foreclosure. He also illegally deposited $270,000 into his personal bank account after the closings. The two properties eventually foreclosed.

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California Lawyer Criminally Charged For Appearing In Court While Drunk

February 13, 2012

alcohol glass 7XSmall California Lawyer Criminally Charged For Appearing In Court While DrunkAn attorney from California was criminally charged after appearing in court on a number of occasions while allegedly intoxicated. Michelle Winspur, a prominent attorney in Kings County who was barred from practicing law in California after being charged, has pleaded not guilty.

The charges stem from accusations that she appeared in court on three separate occasions while drunk, including during a murder case.

According to the Visalia Times-Delta, the first occasion Winspur was allegedly drunk was in October of last year “in Kings County Superior Court in Hanford when she failed a sobriety test when she entered the building.” She reportedly had a blood-alcohol level (BAL) about twice the legal limit. On the second occasion in December of last year she failed a sobriety test after leaving the courtroom.

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Mentally Ill Man Sentenced To 32 Years For Fresno Double Murder

February 10, 2012

brain mentalhealth xsmall 300x199 Mentally Ill Man Sentenced To 32 Years For Fresno Double MurderA mentally ill man was recently sentenced to 32 years to life in prison for stabbing two Fresno residents to death in 2010. One of his victims was his 70-year-old aunt. The defendant, Andre Ruff, had pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder of his aunt and of 52-year-old Maurice Hackett.

Doreen Hackett, the sister of victim Maurice Hackett, believed the system failed Ruff. “I don’t believe prison will help him,” she said to the judge. She further asked the judge to send Ruff to a state hospital.

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New York Prosecutors Subpoena Twitter Posts Of Occupy Wall Street Protester

February 9, 2012

social media New York Prosecutors Subpoena Twitter Posts Of Occupy Wall Street ProtesterThe Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has subpoenaed three months of Twitter posts by an Occupy Wall Street protestor who was arrested last year at a protest on the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City. Along with the Twitter posts, the subpoena requires Malcolm Harris, a 23-year-old freelance writer, to hand over his “user information, including email address” for his Twitter account @destructuremal.

The subpoena was faxed to Twitter’s corporate office, which then informed Harris. Harris then posted a copy of the subpoena onto his Twitter feed.

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Convicted Internet Pirate Immediately Imprisoned After Facebook Posts

February 8, 2012

gavel handcuffs 300x207 Convicted Internet Pirate Immediately Imprisoned After Facebook PostsAlthough initially given several weeks to get her affairs in order before reporting to prison to serve a 22 month sentence for an Internet piracy conviction, a judge ordered the immediate imprisonment of Hana Beshara after she had posted comments on Facebook criticizing prosecutors and their case, as well as complaining about her sentence.

Prosecutors had requested her immediate imprisonment after discovering the posts which they say demonstrated “a clear lack of remorse over her illegal conduct.” In support of their claim they pointed to one particular comment where Beshara wrote “I never snitched, I never left NinjaVideo, and I will always be proud of this incredible world we built, this community that touched millions. I hold my head high. Always.”

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Prosecutors Angry Over Convicted Internet Pirate’s Online Criticism Of Government’s Case

February 7, 2012

gavel 01 300x200 Prosecutors Angry Over Convicted Internet Pirate’s Online Criticism Of Governments CaseA woman who was recently sentenced to two years in prison for her role in running a pirating website called NinjaVideo got herself in hotter water after making Facebook posts critical of the case and her punishment.

Hana Beshara, also known on the Internet as “Queen Phara,” went onto Facebook almost immediately after her sentencing and posted criticisms of the prosecutor and the government’s case against her, and complained about the sentence she had been given. She additionally enlisted public support, including trying to set up interviews with the media and seeking to get a documentary filmmaker to tell her story.

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Supreme Court Says Alabama Death Row Inmate Cory Maples Can Appeal His Conviction

February 6, 2012

supreme court Supreme Court Says Alabama Death Row Inmate Cory Maples Can Appeal His ConvictionIn a previous post on this blog we covered the case of an Alabama man who was convicted of murder and sentenced to death, and whose appeal was denied by an Alabama court because of a missed filing deadline created by a mail mishap. The case went to the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether the man, Cory Maples, can still appeal his conviction even though he missed the deadline due to no fault of his own.

In a 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court has ruled that Cory Maples can appeal his conviction. In a concurring opinion, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. said Maples had experienced “a veritable perfect storm of misfortune.”

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President Obama Announces New Mortgage Crime Task Force Focusing On Financial Institutions

February 2, 2012

cash handcuffs xsmall 300x199 President Obama Announces New Mortgage Crime Task Force Focusing On Financial InstitutionsPresident Obama recently announced the creation of a new task force made up of a special unit of prosecutors and state attorneys general which will investigate abusive lending practices that contributed to the recent housing crisis.

“This new unit will hold accountable those who broke the law, speed assistance to homeowners, and help turn the page on an era of recklessness that hurt so many Americans,” Obama said in his State of the Union address.

The new task force will focus on banks, mortgage originators, and other financial firms, and will prosecute those that are found to have engaged in illegal mortgage lending practices. The task force will also work to compensate victims and give relief to homeowners.

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