Customs and Border Protection Officer Schleider Aristhyl was arrested for falsifying VA documents to a private lender and charged with wire fraud and making fraudulent statements. The fraud happened regarding a property in Rhode Island. Aristhly submitted two falsified VA documents to a private lender, one claiming he had a 100% VA disability rating with monthly benefits exceeding $3,000. In reality, he had no disability rating and was receiving no monthly benefits at the tim

Yep, more bad news regarding AI. Now fraudsters are using AI to increasingly create sophisticated false loan documents and ID’s. Two Florida residents have pleaded guilty to charges stemming from their roles in a bank-fraud scheme, which involved falsified pay stubs that conned multiple lenders to originate mortgages backed by the government-sponsored enterprises. Way back in 2022, Kimberly Williams, an Orlando resident, worked with Kenneth Blair, a mortgage consultant and cr

Here at Waquis, we’ve made it perfectly clear why using AI in mortgage operations is a very, very bad idea complete with high levels of risk. We’ve had discussions with executives at massive US banks down to smaller regional lenders on the dangers of using AI in mortgage operations. The following case illustrates our concerns perfectly. OpenAI, the creator of CHATGPT, released a statement that its artificial intelligence system hacked into another AI company on its own accord

Richard Cunningham, 55, a real estate developer who was formerly a D.C. Housing Authority employee, pled guilty in District of Columbia U.S. District Court in connection with a scheme to defraud private mortgage lenders of more than $15 million. According to court documents, for almost four years, beginning in August 2020 and continuing through May 2024, Cunningham submitted false documents and fraudulent documents to mortgage lenders , our in support of loan applications for

According to an indictment filed by the Department of Justice, in September, 2021, Yan Daniel Inclan Hernandez 32, Orlando, Florida, has been charged with one count of making a false Statement to a financial institution and three counts of wire fraud. Hernandez apparently made a false statement by exaggerating his monthly income and, subsequently, was approved for a $411,350 mortgage loan. Then Hernandez played with fire by falsifying documents to obtain a PPP (Paycheck Prote

The HEI (Home Equity Investment) space is getting hit with a litany of lawsuits as more and more homeowners tap into their home equity. Hometap is the latest HEI player hit with a series of lawsuits for violating the Truth in Lending Act and failing to treat their product as a mortgage loan. The recent cases have Loantap’s products described as illegal loans with excessively high interest rates. The Boston-based Hometap is one of several HEI players in a real estate finance s

According to the Cotality National Mortgage Fraud Application Risk Index, the first quarter of 2026 ended with approximately 1-in-129 mortgage applications having some indicator of fraud, putting the Index at 121 for the period. This compared with 133 for the fourth and first quarters of last year. Findings in investment property applications are why fraud risk is at current levels, Cotality explained. The data found 1-in-44 applications secured by investment properties had i

Mahender Makhijani, an Indian national who resides in Corona del Mar, and might resemble a character out of a 1980’s Bollywood gangster movie, was arrested and charged with multiple counts of fraud that could amount to over one hundred million dollars. If convicted, Makhijani could face up to 30 years in federal prison. Makhijani has drawn significant media overage over the past year for his numerous debaucheries that include holding several salacious parties and even physica

Provident Bank is suing Maryland-based My Mortgage for allegedly misusing its warehouse line of credit to fund ineligible loans and sell those properties to its own employees. Provident Bank is seeking a minimum of $9 million in fraud related damages. My Mortgage, based in Crofton, Maryland, counts 72 sponsored mortgage loan originators and 11 east coast branches in Nationwide Multistate Licensing System records. The retail lender has regularly generated nine-figure originati

Early in the morning on March 19th, in a daring morning raid, nine individuals from Los Angeles were arrested by federal agents for their involvement in a $17.4 million sophisticated mortgage scheme. The suspected are accused of targeting elderly victims and high-value residential properties in areas like Hollywood and Santa Monica. Related arrests were made in Florida and Canada. The suspects face a 15-count federal indictment that includes wire fraud and identity theft. Eac

March, 2026 Over 125 consumer complaints have prompted Washington state regulators to propose hefty financial penalties against Newrez. The complaints stem from numerous mortgage servicing violations. The fines may total in excess of $4.2 million for repeated servicing violations between 2021 and 2026. The violations include providing inaccurate information about loans, escrow and insurance obligations to borrowers and credit bureaus, and many other violations. "Washington ho

Jonathan Yasko, 47, of Winter Springs, Florida, was sentenced to 27 months in prison after pleading guilty to committing wire fraud between 2021 and 2023 and diverting lenders' funds in real estate transactions to other accounts. Funds were used for other unrelated closings (usually to make-up for escrow shortages) or to Yasko's personal account to pay for personal and luxury spending on cars, vacations, and home furnishings. Yasko's activity resulted in numerous botched clos

LOS ANGELES – A homeowner in Burbank was reportedly swindled out of his $1.5 million dollar house by a group of fraudsters that include a licensed real estate broker and two other defendants. The fraudsters used stolen identities of the seller, and a reputed buyer, to obtain a near $1 million dollar loan. The defendants are listed as: Glenis Cardona, 63, of Highland, a licensed real estate broker who operates an escrow business; Ivan Reyes, 50, of Van Nuys; and Arshak Akop

AI and the potential for fraud during the post-closing auditing process We at Waquis decided to explore using AI for our post-closing audit process. Given the hype around AI, with promises of tremendous cost savings and operational efficiencies, our hopes were high. It would seem that many tasks within post-closing, and other mortgage tasks, would be a perfect fit with AI and allow us to cut down on time to delivery while also improving efficiencies. Using ChatGPT, we ask

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