Ten people have been indicted in a $3 million mortgage fraud case
Charged are Eric M. Rabicoff, 26, Hutchinson, Kan.; Jason L. Rabicoff, 33, Overland Park, Kan.; Lucas R. Collier, 27, Basehor, Kan.; Anthony E. Carollo, 31, Raytown, Mo., Deborah Saulmon, 50, Olathe, Kan.; Bora Ly, 27, Raytown, Mo.; Anthony “Gabe” Painton, Jr., 29, Kansas City, Mo.; Kong Bun Ly, 29, Kansas City, Mo.; Rebecca Gelwix, 24, West Des Moines, Iowa; and Richard Ngek, 25, Lee’s Summit, Mo., are charged with mortgage fraud.Ten people have been indicted in a $3 million mortgage fraud case, U.S. Attorney Lanny Welch said.According to the indictment, in 2006 Eric Rabicoff devised a scheme to defraud lenders by recruiting straw buyers to purchase homes that were for sale by owners. It was part of the scheme to submit false information to lenders so that borrowers received loans for which they were not qualified. The conspirators submitted false information to lenders about borrowers’ employment history, income and rent history. In this way, the conspirators obtained more than $3 million in loans for borrowers who did not in fact qualify for the loans.Conspirators caused loans to be made on properties in Olathe, Kan., Kansas City, Mo., and Lee’s Summit, Mo.Rabaicoff recruited straw buyers to take title for a short time to houses and to obtain loans on the houses. He convinced the straw buyers he would purchase the homes and remove their names from the loan obligations. He represented that he already had renters for the properties whose rental payments would cover the mortgage payments until Rabicoff purchased the properties from the straw buyers. Rabicoff recruited Lucas R. Collier as a straw buyer. Collier recruited Anthony “Gabe” Painton, Jr., and Boral Ly. They recruited Rebecca Gelwix. Kong Bun Ly and Richard Ngek. None of the straw buyers were in fact qualified to receive home loans.Jason Rabicoff, who is Eric Rabicoff’s brother, was a loan officer for Apex Financial, a mortgage company in Olathe, Kan., that brokered loans through Clarion Mortgage of Overland Park, Kan. At his brother’s direction, Jason Rabicoff assembled loan files on the straw buyers, including false reports on rent history, employment and income.Anthony E. Carollo, who is the cousin of Lucas Collier, was the manager of Gourmet Grocers, a small, family-owned, business that all the straw buyers listed as their employer. Carollo was paid to provide false Verification of Employment forms to lenders. Deborah Saulmon, who owned a property management company called Essential Properties, provided false Verfication of Rent forms to lenders.Eric Rabicoff submitted false invoices to title companies seeking payment for making improvements to properties when in fact the improvements had never been made. The lenders paid the money to MSM Enterprises, a company set up by Rabicoff. At Eric Rabicoff’s direction, Collier, Ly and Painton set up shell companies including Cappo Investment Agency, LL., Global Investing LLC and AJs Investment Group to receive proceeds from the conspiracy.The government is seeking the forfeiture of more than $3 million on proceeds from the crime.