Trio faces mortgage fraud charges

PROVIDENCE – A federal grand jury indicted three Rhode Island men last week, alleging that they orchestrated a mortgage fraud that netted $3.5 million.
The three men indicted were: Juan Carlos Hernandez, 41, of West Warwick, a loan officer with National City Mortgage Co.; Miguel Valerio, 51, of Providence, a loan processor with National City Mortgage Co.; and James D. Levitt, 65, of Pawtucket, a former lawyer who controlled two real estate companies.
Peter F. Neronha, the U.S. attorney for the Rhode Island District, said the alleged scheme involved the trio recruiting and paying straw buyers. Those buyers, in turn, purchased 13 properties the trio would not normally be qualified to acquire. The three then intended to take control of the properties and rent them or flip them for a profit.
The attorney general said that the straw-buyers were paid and regularly advised by the defendants that they would not be responsible for the mortgages for which they were applying.