6 Long Islanders arrested on mortgage fraud charges, accused of running false pay stubs mill

January 31st, 2010 | by Admin |

In the following press release Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota announced today the arrests of six county residents by Mortgage Fraud Unit detectives’ for creating fake paystubs and federal W-2 forms to fraudulently obtain $5.9 million in fraudulent mortgages from Emigrant Mortgage Company, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, National City Mortgage and other lenders. Two of the defendants, Martha Huezo, 38, Cranberry Drive, Mastic Beach and Luis Lino, 46, of Hauppauge, a real estate broker for Millennium Homes in Bay Shore and Easy Homes Realty in Brentwood, pleaded not guilty today to forgery and other charges at their arraignments in Suffolk County court.

The district attorney’s office handed up an 82-count indictment on December 24 of last year. The indictment alleges the fraudulent procurement by six defendants of $5,986,860 in mortgages for 21 properties in Brentwood, Central Islip, Holbrook, West Babylon, Amityville and Nesconset. “The phony documentation established phantom incomes and jobs to convince banks to lend to borrowers who otherwise would not have qualified for the mortgages,” Spota said.

District Attorney Spota said the investigation began last March when mortgage fraud unit investigators executed a search warrant at the office of tax preparer Irma Tocco (pictured) at 52 Riddle Street in Brentwood. “Inside, we seized phony pay stubs, federal W-2 forms and bank statements – documents we believe Ms. Tocco prepared for submission by mortgage bankers, realtors and mortgage brokers to get loans under false pretenses,” DA Spota said. “We also recovered numerous handwritten requests from these real estate professionals for these fraudulent documents.”

Tax preparer Irma Tocco, 60, is charged in the indictment with 47 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree, 11 counts of forgery in the second degree, multiple charges of residential mortgage fraud and other crimes. Codefendant Victor Jinete, (pictured) 35, of Starlight Drive, East Islip, a former Medford Branch Manager of National City Mortgage, is charged with 31 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree, four counts of forgery in the second degree, multiple charges of residential mortgage fraud in the third degree and other charges.

“The crisis in today’s real estate market is due in large part to unscrupulous individuals who would break the law to close a deal and earn a commission. This office will continue to hold these people accountable for their role in undermining our local economy,” District Attorney Spota said.

[Also charged were Connie Salas and Thomas Rosales]

[Editor Note: The list of charges can be found in the press release above.]

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