Thursday, April 22, 2010

What do you get when you cross a crooked attorney and a washed up NFL player? MORTGAGE FRAUD, FOOL!

We learned about disbarred attorney Maria Teresa Lopez yesterday, what was most interesting though is that the MDPD nor the Miami Dade County Mortgage fraud task force did ANYTHING about the millions of dollars of fraud that she committed leading up to the Florida Bar disbarring her.  What gives?  Some of those frauds were from back in 2006 and the Mortgage Fraud Task Force didn't do anything about them?  What's worse is that the petitions for suspension by that bar could have been copied word for word into an arrest affidavit, they'd already done all the investigating and writing!  Cut and paste then VIOLA!  Instant arrest affidavit with all the documentation to back everything up, not to mention of far better quality than any arrest affidavit that we've seen to date.

So what did it take to finally bring the Mortgage Fraud Task Force to arrest Ms. Lopez?  Let's take a look at the article from the Sun Sentinel...
Former Dolphin Jamie Nails charged with fraud
Offensive lineman stole identity of ex-teammate’s grandmother, police say
Jamie Nails, a former Miami Dolphins and Buffalo Bills offensive lineman, is being charged with mortgage fraud after police say he stole the identity of the grandmother of a former teammate.

An arrest warrant was issued Tuesday for Nails, 34, who was believed to be in his native Georgia.

Miami-Dade prosecutors say the alleged victim is the grandmother of Nails' former Bills teammate Daryl Porter.

Also charged: Irina J. Ball, president of Pan American Investment and Mortgage Corp., and Maria T. Lopez, a Coral Gables lawyer disbarred in January for improper handling of client matters.

All are charged with organized fraud, organized scheme to defraud, first-degree grand theft and fraudulent use of an identity.

According to an arrest warrant made public Wednesday, Nails and Ball stole the identity of Delores Porter, 74, to obtain a $510,000 mortgage for a South Beach condominium in her name. Lopez acted as the deal's closing agent, according to Miami-Dade's Mortgage Fraud Task Force.

Prosecutors allege that Ball paid $49,625 to Nails as part of the deal. Nails could not be reached for comment Wednesday night.

This is Nails' second brush with the law since he left the NFL in 2003.

In November 2006, Fort Lauderdale police arrested Nails for grand theft after he failed to return a Chrysler 300 Touring to a rental car company. Records show he accepted a plea deal, agreeing to three years' probation plus restitution.

A 6-foot-6, 335-pound guard, Nails played college ball at Florida A&M and was drafted by Buffalo in 1997. He played four seasons there before signing with Miami.

But in December 2002, he tore his Achilles tendon and never again played up to his potential. He was released after the 2003 season and did not return to the NFL.

After his release, Nails coached for the Miami Fury woman's football team, and the short-lived indoor arena team the Miami Morays.
Wow.  The article is more about the football player than it is about the crooked attorney, that's in striking contrast to this article isn't it?  Looks like all the Task Force is concerned about is a scintillating headline, damn the real story!  There is something that doesn't seem right, from our research, the attorney was suspended from practicing back in 2008, the fraud that's described in the article above occurred either right when she was suspended or just afterwords, that's a problem as once an attorney is suspended, the Bar takes over their trust accounts and disburses any  monies that may be left over to makes sure there's no funny business going on, so who closed this crooked deal?  What did Ms. Lopez have to do with it and why wasn't the person who closed the deal arrested as well?  We'll take a look at that aspect of the story tomorrow, trust me what we're going to find is going to make your stomach turn.

3 comments:

  1. Almost forgot, only 18 days till the Bernardo Barrera mortgage fraud case goes to trial...

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  2. This babe is a shame to the career, I can only wish that they toss the really guide at her.
    Dade Dodge

    ReplyDelete