Christopher Alan Stapleton of Clearwater Beach was found guilty this month of conspiracy to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution and three counts of making false statements to a federally-insured financial institution.

According to the testimony and evidence presented at his jury trial at the federal courthouse in Tampa, Stapleton submitted loan applications and other documents containing false and fraudulent information to various mortgage lenders. The loan apps falsely inflated both the contract purchase prices of the real properties that Stapleton was buying and his gross monthly income in an effort to get the lenders to approve the loans.

Relying on those fraudulent representations, the lenders approved the loans and disbursed loan proceeds in excess of the true contract purchase prices. Stapleton paid the sellers for the properties at the actual contract amounts and kept millions of dollars in excess loan proceeds for himself. For example, a St. Petersburg home sold for $1.4 million but was listed on loan documents as selling for $2.35 million. (more…)

The former corporate controller of Cast-Crete, a company founded by the late Tampa political activist Ralph Hughes, pleaded guilty this week to embezzling more than $5.3 million from the company. Franklin R. Derochemont had worked for the company since 1979.

Derochemont admitted, in a Tampa federal courtroom, mail fraud and tax evasion for conspiring with an accountant to steal from Cast-Crete between October 2003 and December 2008 and then failing to pay income taxes on the stolen money.

From 2005 to 2008, Derochemont’s annual income nearly quadrupled but he failed to pay taxes on his full income, according to court documents.

Mail fraud carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison,  while he faces up to five years in prison on the tax evasion charge. (more…)

After an eight day trial earlier this month, a federal jury in Tampa found Beau Diamond of Sarasota guilty of 18 counts of fraud and money laundering-related crimes. He faces up to 20 years in federal prison for each of the seven counts of wire fraud and three counts of
mail fraud, up to 10 years for each of the seven counts of illegal monetary transaction, and up to 10 years for transportation of stolen property.

According to witnesses and evidence at trial, Diamond operated a fraudulent Ponzi scheme from April 2006 to January 2009 through his Sarasota company, Diamond Ventures LLC. Diamond solicited friends, family, and others to invest in his company for the purported purpose of trading their invested funds in foreign exchange (Forex) currency markets. Diamond promised investors in Sarasota and throughout the United
States a monthly return of 2.75-5% on their investments and guaranteed the security of investors’ proceeds.

In reality, Diamond lost $13.3 million of the investors’ funds and then concealed the loss by providing investors with false account statements showing that their accounts were increasing as promised.

Diamond used investment proceeds to make interest payments to investors. A total of $37 million went into Diamond’s fund for the purposes of trading, all of which was dissipated through Ponzi distributions, losing trades, and diversions to Diamond for his personal benefit.

In a Ponzi scheme, investors are paid “profits” with their own money or that of other investors who got in after them.

The deals inevitably collapse when the influx of money stops being enough to make the outgoing payments. The current recession has stopped the investment influx in its tracks and caused many, many of these schemes to be exposed.

The investigation and prosecution of alleged Ponzi schemes are best navigated with the assistance of an experienced federal criminal defense attorney. Involving an attorney early on in the process can be extremely beneficial to any fraud suspect or defendant.

See Also:

• Sarasota Man Charged with Fraud in Alleged Ponzi Scheme

• Florida’s Gulf Coast: Hotbed of Ponzi Schemes?

A U.S. District Judge in Tampa sentenced a Pinellas County man to 57 months in federal prison last week for mail fraud and tax fraud. Joseph Christopher Hooker of Tierra Verde was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $2,478,423.98 to Roger William Erdelac, owner of a company called Blue Hawaiian Products, and $ 819,426 to the Internal Revenue Service.

Hooker had pleaded guilty in October 2009 but was not sentenced until last week.

According to federal prosecutors, Hooker and a man named Jack Shaw executed a scheme from approximately 2002 to November 2006 to defraud Blue Hawaiian Products, which is a company that manufactured and sold fiberglass swimming pool shells. Prosecutors claim, in court documents, that Hooker acquired customer checks that had been sent by private and interstate carriers (the interstate travel of the funds brings the fraud into the purview of the federal courts instead of the state courts) and made payable to his employer, Blue Hawaiian Products. (more…)

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit affirmed actor Wesley Snipes’ 2008 conviction and sentence for failing to file tax returns last week. Snipes faces a three-year federal prison sentence but has been free on bail pending appeal.

Now that the case has been affirmed, the case will be sent to a district judge and Snipes will be given a date by which to surrender to federal authorities. The only remaining appellate option for Snipes and his attorneys is a writ to the U.S. Supreme Court. The assistant U.S. Attorney on the case doesn’t think the case meets the criteria needed to reach the highest court. (more…)

Tampa Bay – and the rest of the country – should probably ready itself for another round of federal mortgage fraud prosecutions. A few weeks ago, in late June, 2010, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced yet another coordinated task force addressing the mortgage fraud issues that abounded during the real estate boom, which is now several years past, but are continuing today as people try to maneuver out of unfortunate financial situations.

Holder announced the results of Operation Stolen Dreams – a three and a half month takedown of mortgage fraud schemes throughout the country. Beginning on March 1, 2010, Operation Stolen Dreams has involved over 1,200 criminal defendants who were allegedly responsible for more than $2.3 billion in losses. In addition, the operation involved 191 civil enforcement actions through which more than $147 million has been ordered recovered, with still millions more pending court approval. (more…)

Robert Policastro pleaded guilty this month in a Tampa federal courtroom to conspiring to commit mail and wire fraud related to mortgage fraud. Policastro, most recently a resident of Vienna, Austria, faces up to twenty years in federal prison and a fine of up to $18.1 million upon sentencing.

According to law enforcement, Policastro, who is an architect, conspired with a title agent to obtain over $9 million in mortgage loans from various lenders for the purchase of properties. The loans were generally obtained after Policastro directed the title agent to prepare “dueling” HUD-1 settlement statements for the different loan transactions.

The false HUD-1s failed to disclose to the lenders the existence of other lenders involved in financing the purchase of the properties. The statements generally included the false claim that Policastro had provided large down payments for the loans, when Policastro had, in reality, contributed no money and was making a profit from the deals. (more…)

Peter Porcelli, a former Pinellas County telemarketer, pleaded guilty last week in a Tampa federal courtroom to mail fraud. Porcelli is already serving 13 years in federal prison on fraud charges related to a credit card scheme. He now faces up to 20 additional years in federal prison. (more…)

The U.S. Attorney in Tampa announced the indictment of four Tampa men for alleged money laundering in relation to an illegal alien smuggling organization to conceal the origins of the money. The investigation, coined Operation “Brazilian Express,” reportedly took over a year to conclude.

According to federal prosecutors and law enforcement, the illegal alien-smuggling scheme was headed by Tampa resident Edson Veiga and smuggled illegal Brazilian aliens over the Mexican border and into the United States. Veiga previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to alien smuggling and is serving a sentence of 33 months in federal prison. His cooperation with federal authorities appears to have been key to the investigation.

According to court document, the organization charged the aliens between $8,000 and $10,000 and used the money to pay individuals at various stages of the operation. Veiga reportedly made approximately $1,500 for each successfully smuggled alien. Authorities estimate that the group successfully smuggled about 100 illegal aliens into the country. (more…)

Four Cape Coral men pleaded guilty to federal charges of money laundering and conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud. A fifth man, from Texas, also pleaded guilty in relation to the same mortgage fraud enterprise. Troy Bossert, Tyler Forrey, Ryan O’Brien, Stephen Petrovich, and Steven Reese all face a maximum penalty of twenty years in federal prison.

According to the plea agreements filed in federal court in Fort Myers, the defendants operated a “cash-out” mortgage fraud conspiracy in Cape Coral between 2007 and 2008. They reported inflated sales prices to lenders and falsified applications for loans based on the higher prices. They then kept the excess loan proceeds at closing for themselves. (more…)