Mortgage Fraud Expert Cindi Dixon to Speak on PREP Panel

Online, April 22, 2010 (Newswire.com) - This panel of industry professionals will be discussing fraud from several different perspectives-mortgage fraud, fraud training, national recorders' association, law enforcement, etc. This is the first time that this group is coming together to discuss the issues at a Central Florida PREP meeting. PREP, (Property Records Education Partners) is a working group of PRIA, Property Records Industry Association. This national organization is an alliance formed by the American Land Title Association (ALTA), the American Escrow Association (AEA), the International Association of Clerks, Recorders, Election Officials & Treasurers (IACREOT), and the National Association of County Recorders, Election Officials & Clerks (NACRC) for the purpose of creating local industry workgroups. The focus for the May meeting is an expert panel discussion on how to identify and prevent fraud in the recordation of documents.

In September 2010, Cindi will be presenting a customized training on mortgage fraud for white collar crimes law enforcement members at the annual Palm Beach County Economic Crimes Task Force conference. This detailed training will cover topics including identifying and unraveling complex white collar mortgage fraud schemes, interagency information sharing, and private industry partnerships for the interagency law enforcement audience. Additional information can be found at www.MelaCapitalGroup.com.

Not only an expert in mortgage fraud and risk management, Cindi was the victim of two multimillion dollar mortgage fraud schemes in the early 1990s.

Background
In 1991 while a pre-med in Southern California, Cindi started working for the Real Estate Investment Group of Wells Fargo Bank. This unit provided large balance commercial loans for construction projects. The minimum loan amount was $10,000,000 and in her role, Cindi provided all phases of project management from commercial credit risk, budget oversight and project analytics. From there she moved into Wall Street fund analytics for Dreyfus Financial Services, which was purchase by Mellon Bank during her tenure. These several years introduced her to the world of high finance and risk management for which she developed an immediate passion and aptitude that continues today, over 21 years later.

Mortgage Fraud Victim
In her own words, anyone can become a victim of fraud.
"In the early 1990s, a friend who was a registered NASD agent introduced me to an agent who was selling new construction condominiums in Redondo Beach. I was a renter at the time, getting started in my career, a young mother and college honors student. I was in no position to buy a condo for half a million dollars. This transaction was 'sold' to me as a great investment opportunity. I had great credit and could purchase a couple of units, which would be rented out and managed by the developer. I would make money off of monthly rents, build mortgage credit and make money at closing. My colleague was doing it and I respected him.
At the time Title One loans were being done in California. These are government guaranteed third liens to 'fix up the property". To make a long story short, within four months of closing, my $900,000 worth of property was not being rented, the 'agent' who 'brokered' the transaction was living in one of the units and threatening the lives of my children and me with prison if I went to anyone about the transactions.
I didn't make any money at all and my credit was ruined for many years to come. As I became more sophisticated about these transactions, with this being my first real fraud investigation, I discovered the following:
Income and asset documents had been 'created' for me. Employment had been falsified, along with income and assets. My applications had been falsified and forged. The builder/developer was the realtor and his brother was the appraiser and general contractor. The company, Anastasi Realty in Redondo Beach, California, unloaded the majority of this development in this manner. Without my knowledge at the time, second and third liens were also taken out on the properties. This is a classic builder bailout scheme. The properties were appraised at twice their actual value, as such setting a false market for the new construction condos in that area. When I finally realized that not only was the rink leader in this disaster living in a property I now owned and not paying rent, the fraudsters in this deal walked away with at least $600,000 in cash at my expense my sleepless nights immediately begat my dedication to fighting fraud and the criminals, almost always industry insiders, that exploit consumers.

The second time I was victimized by mortgage fraud, also by industry insiders, was in the mid-1990s. I was a notary public in the state of California and notarizing loans for a select group of companies with which I had done loan closings while attending school. A former close friend and colleague for about eight years at the time, became a mortgage broker. He was from a prominent, wealthy family, a family friend and had a family of his own. Turns out he was altering and duplicating mortgage notes, falsifying loan documents and putting five, six and even eight mortgage liens on properties of elderly home owners. When the Monrovia, California police department contacted me, as the notary on the loans, mortgage fraud was a very 'new' crime. I worked with them, and then the Los Angeles District Attorney's office for the next five years to unravel and prosecute this case.
The LA DA assembled a brand new mortgage fraud task force during this time as mortgage fraud was becoming more wide spread and identifiable as a prosecutable crime. The former team of insurance fraud investigators was new to the mountains of documentation and the complexities of fraud schemes in these cases. I helped train the team understand document review and investigative practices when two warehouses of title and escrow company documents were subpoenaed in this case. It took almost five years and thousands of hours of man power, but eventually convections were handed down.
In addition to the fraudulent notes, applications, and income and asset documentation, one of the co-defendants, the wife and processor for the ring leader, was involved with her brother, a USC employee, who created fraudulent powers of attorney to transfer title to properties of elderly and deceased family members sealing their properties from their estates.
When fraud hits home like this from professionals and friends you trust, you quickly realize how wide spread the crime of mortgage fraud is and how vulnerable we all are. The amount of money made in just these two cases, that involved me personally, is well into the millions. In order to pull off complex schemes like these, inside knowledge of the mortgage industry is needed, and multiple 'professional' parties have to collaborate to defraud lenders."

Mela Capital Group, www.MelaCapitalGroup.com is a nationally recognized mortgage fraud mitigation and credit risk management consulting firm that has audited $5 billion in high risk mortgage loans for private industry and law enforcement. As a recognized industry expert in mortgage and securities fraud investigation and operational procedure, Cindi Dixon, President, provides expert witness testimony and is a frequent presenter at public speaking engagements. As a private consulting firm, Mela Group has assisted US Customs/ICE, the FBI, and other agencies in unraveling complex criminal schemes involving mortgage fraud.