A New Jersey woman arrested for her part in a jumbo mortgage fraud scheme threatened FBI agents with a butter knife as they arrested her, then rambled during a federal court appearance.
Brenda Rickard, who has been indicted in an alleged $30 million fraud, used the butter knife to threaten FBI agents after they needed a battering ram to burst into her home, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office in Newark.
Then, during an appearance before U.S. Magistrate Mark Falk, she rambled when questioned — claiming she was the victim of identity theft — and cupped her hands in the form of a megaphone while talking.
Her lawyer told the court she was on medication and did not understand the severity of the charges she is facing.
And the charges are severe.
The U.S. District Court in New Jersey has indicted Rickard, Jamila Davis and Arisma Theodore in a wide ranging scheme that has already included convictions and charges against at least eight other people. Among those is Nicholas Infantino, a mortgage broker who already pleaded guilty in January of fraud by deceiving lenders into lending more money than the actual price of upscale houses.
“The object of the conspiracy was to fraudulently induce the lenders to make mortgage loans…that were in excess of the true purchase price,” according to the indictment.
Members of the fraud ring were allegedly running a relatively common mortgage scam — make money on inflated and bogus mortgage loans. Yet this case is different because it targeted homes that cost $1.1 million to $3.8 million. Most similar scams target less expensive houses in low-income neighborhoods.
Luxury cars, including a Range Rover and Mercedes Benz, were confiscated by the government, which believes the cars were purchased with money made from the scheme.
Rickard operated a company, M.S. Financial Services in Montclair and Verona that was the alleged front for the ring.
According to the indictment, Davis and Infantino would use bogus information — work histories, personal financial information and bogus IRS W-2 forms — to secure inflated mortgage loans on houses.
For instance, a house was listed for $3.8 million; a loan application was submitted for $5.9 million. On another property the actual price was $2.8 million but the loan was for $5.5 million.
The ring would recruit straw buyers to purchase the homes. On loan applications, two of the buyers were described as a businessman who “owns and operates a successful restaurant business.” The other “has been self-employed for the past three years.”
In fact, the buyers were actually bartenders whose actual bank accounts totaled just $7,300, court documents show.
Two lenders, Lehman Brothers and Commerce Bank, took the biggest hit and were duped out of about $14 million. The banks are pursuing the money through civil suits against the defendants.
The fraudulent first mortgages in the scheme total $20 million; another $10 million came through second mortgages that were also bogus and approved by lenders, court records show.
The defendants are facing up to 30 years in prison if convicted.
