Federal Jury Convicts Brooklyn Business Owner Avraham Tarshish For Operating A Multi-Million Dollar Real Estate Fraud Scheme

A federal jury in Brooklyn returned a guilty verdict against Brooklyn business owner Avraham Tarshish. Federal prosecutors charged Tarshish with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud. The charges are in connection with a $2.4 million scheme to defraud mortgage loan holders. Lenders included Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and other mortgage lending businesses. 

The verdict followed a 12-day trial before Chief United States District Judge Margo K. Brodie. Tarshish faces up to 30 years in prison.

Federal prosecutors allege the scheme defrauded taxpayer-funded mortgage loan holders out of millions of dollars. They also allege Tarshish and others took advantage of short sale programs designed to help distressed property owners in need.

Prosecutors allege Tarshish and other co-conspirators defrauded nearly $2.4 million from FHA-insured mortgage lenders.

How Brooklyn Business Owner Avraham Tarshish Operated The Fraud Scheme

Tarshish was involved in a number of different corporate entities. He was an employee of My Ideal Property Inc. He was also an owner of Exclusive Homes Realty Group, Inc. and Exclusive Homes NY, LLC. In addition, he owned Homeowners Solutions Group LTD and various Queens and Brooklyn based companies. Tarshish and others formed these companies to buy and sell real property. 

Prosecutors successfully argued that for 5 1/2 years, Tarshish and others conspired to defraud mortgage lenders. They misled them into approving short sale transactions at fraudulently depressed prices. 

Tarshish and his co-conspirators paid homeowners in foreclosure to lock them in to conducting short sales with them. They took steps to preclude other prospective purchasers from making higher offers for properties. They did this by not properly marketing properties as required by the lenders.

Tarshish and his cohorts also placed fraudulent liens on properties. They further depressed the properties’ values by removing toilets and plumbing. Thus, causing other forms of property damage.

In furtherance of the scheme, Tarshish and his co-conspirator also provided the mortgage servicers with false and misleading information. They failed to disclose either payments made to the borrowers. In addition, they also failed to disclose other information related to short sale or contemporaneous agreements. Many of the affected mortgage loans were insured by the Federal Housing Administration. Several of the properties were owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

Read More About Real Estate Fraudsters On MFI-Miami.com.