Five individuals were arrested for their alleged roles in a mortgage fraud scheme that led the Federal Housing Administration and others to lose millions of dollars. The group was accused of running fraudulent short sales in New York.

The five peopled nabbed in the scheme were Iskyo Aronov, 32, Michael Konstantinovskiy, 33, Michael Herskowitz, 40, Avraham Tarshish, 40, and Tomer Dafna, 48. They were charged with wire fraud, bank fraud, and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud. If convicted, each member of the group could be fined $1 million and sentenced up to 30 years in prison.

Prosecutors said the group operated the scheme from December 2012 to January 2019. The five individuals allegedly misled prominent mortgage lenders into authorizing short sale transactions at fraudulently low prices.

They illegally manipulated the short sale process by transferring properties for inflated prices without telling mortgage lenders. The group also engaged in various efforts to prevent other prospective buyers from submitting higher offers, including filing fake liens and not marketing properties as per lender requirements.

In addition, prosecutors said the defendants allegedly lied to mortgage lenders and servicers by supplying transaction papers with false information. They failed to inform them about payments made to borrowers in short sale agreements to transfer properties that were at higher prices.

If you have been accused of mortgage fraud, contact Brill Legal Group immediately. We provide skilled defense for real estate brokers, investors, homebuyers and others accuse of mortgage fraud in New York.