As the title states, yesterday the last remaining defendant from the Bernardo Barrera mortgage fraud case, John Arthur Romney, entered his plea and was sent to jail. I don't have the specifics of the plea yet, all we know is that the state dropped the organized scheme to defraud and the identity theft charges while Mr. Romney pleaded guilty to the Grand Theft charge. I find that especially troubling, that of the three defendants originally charged with "stealing" Mr. Barrera's identity for the commission of this fraud, none were successfully prosecuted for Identity Theft. What does that tell you? Draw your own conclusions.
While I feel no joy in seeing a young man in the prime of his life being sent off to jail, I have some level of satisfaction that there was finally justice done in light of the dozens of other mortgage fraud cases that we've discussed where the state couldn't do better than getting a probation sentence for the offenders. I honestly believe that with a stiff sentence (30 months in state prison from what I understand) for Mr. Romney, the state is sending a message to potential fraudsters, screw around with white collar crime and your ass will be going to jail. I'd like to commend the State Attorneys Office for having the determination to stick it out and finally achieve a just outcome in light of the severity of the crime that was committed and also to congratulate Assistant State Attorney Stephen LeClair who took over the case from the previous prosecutor as well as the head of the recently formed Mortgage Fraud unit in the State Attorneys office, Assistant State Attorney David Sherman, for achieving this conviction.
Good luck Mr. Romney, I hope you have time to reflect on the damage you've done to yourself, your family and the others that you senselessly dragged into this mess. I pray that you and your family are able to get through the next 30 months with as little suffering as possible.
Honestly, just how much bullshit can you feed a detective before the detective figures out that somethings haywire? The man at the center of one of the mortgage fraud stories that we've discussed during the course of our blog, Bernardo Barrera, was involved in another identity theft case four months before the Oak Avenue mortgage fraud. Strange how Mr. Barrera had the misfortune to fall prey to not just one but two identity theft schemes in such a short period of time. I'm going to propose that the two identity thefts were somehow related, regardless of whether or not Mr. Barrera was involved in the crimes, somehow I get the feeling that there's more to these two cases that meets the eye and that if you look at the two cases together you'll get a strong sense that somethings awry.
Let's start by taking a good look at the police report Mr. Barrera filed for the identity theft case involving the purchase of a boat from Ocean Waves Powerboats that was financed through GE Money Bank...
OK, simple enough, for the purposes of today's discussion, let's pay particular attention to this excerpt, I've underlined the pertinent facts in red and as always, click on the document to enlarge it to full size...
In this excerpt Mr. Alex Orriols, the principal of Ocean Waves Powerboats, tells the detective investigating the case that:
"On November 1, 2007, an unknown male walked into the boat show located in the Miami Beach Convention Center to purchase a boat. After looking around at all the boats on display, the unknown subject walked up to the Ocean Waves Powerboats display and spoke with the manager Alex Orioles about purchasing a boat and filled out all the necessary paperwork for the boat."
We already talked about the first major flaw with this statement several months ago, THERE IS NO BOAT SHOW LOCATED IN THE MIAMI BEACH CONVENTION CENTER IN NOVEMBER! Let's not split hairs now, that's a minor detail. Moving on, according to the statement, Mr. Orriols and Mr. Barrera (or impostor) filled out all the necessary paperwork for the boat. Fair enough, guy finds a boat at an imaginary boat show and he fills out the necessary paperwork to purchase the boat. Next we're told that Mr. Orriols...
"...sent the paperwork to GE Money Bank for their review. In about a week GE Money Bank had approved the deal and sent the paperwork back to Mr. Orriols. On November 10, 2008, the unknown subject came to the office at Ocean Waves Power Boats LLC to sign the final papers and pick up the boat."
Ok, got it? Mr. Orriols met with Mr. Barrera (or impostor) at the imaginary boat show on November 1, 2007 then filled out the necessary paperwork for the purchase of the boat, he then sent the paperwork to GE Money Bank who returned it a week later (November 8, I presume) and on November 10, 2007 Mr. Barrera (or impostor) picked up the boat from Ocean Waves Powerboats place of business. Fair enough.
Bare with me now, I've come across some paperwork from this transaction that creates some serious issues with Mr. Orriols statement, pay particular attention to the parts outlined in red. Let's start with the manufacturers statement of origin for the boat in question.
Notice the date outlined in red? An MSO is the document that's used to transfer ownership for a new vehicle from the manufacturer to it's first owner, so why is the MSO for this boat dated November 1, 2007, the date Mr. Barrera (or impostor) first filled out the paperwork and loan application for the purchase of said vessel? Perhaps a mistake on the part of the boat manufacturer?
Now, let's take a gander at the MSO for the boats engines, again this document is transferring ownership of the boats engines from the manufacturer to the boats first owner...
Oh Crap, there's that date again, November 1, 2007. Why is the ownership of the vessels engines being transferred before the bank approved the loan for the acquisition of the boat? Somethings not adding up here, it gets worse though. Take a look at this application for title for the vessel in question...
Why is it dated November 1, 2007 as well? If the bank didn't approve the loan for the boat until November 8, 2007 and the boat wasn't picked up till November 10, 2007, wouldn't logic dictate that all these documents should be dated some time between the 8th and 10th of November? Also take note that on this application for "Certificate of Title" Ocean Waves Powerboats is recording a lien in favor of GE Money Bank, isn't that bizarre since the bank hadn't even approved the loan yet and more than likely wasn't even aware of the loan application on November 1, 2007? According to the police report the loan that was funding the purchase of this boat wasn't even approved until at least November 8, 2007, so why are these guys recording a lien with the state of Florida on November 1st?
Even more disturbing is "Dealers tax statement" that was filed for this boat...
If I'm reading this document correctly it suggests that the company that sold the boat to Mr. Barrera (or impostor) collected $5,964.61 in sales tax on November 1, 2007. Am I the only one that finds collecting sales tax on a sale that has not occurred yet a little strange?
Oh, what the hell. Maybe this transaction really happened at the imaginary boat show on November 1, 2007 and just for shits and grins, the principal of Ocean Waves Powerboats decided to transfer ownership of the boat to the buyer, record a lien in favor of the bank and collect the sales tax for the transaction before the loan to purchase the boat was even approved let alone funded. Anything is possible I guess, but then how do you explain the purchase order for the boat that would have been signed that day at the imaginary boat show? Pay attention to the dates outlined in red...
WHOOPSIE! Did you all catch that? The date on the purchase contract for the boat in question is October 19, 2007. HUH?! According to the police report and Mr. Orriols testimony, his first contact with Mr. Barrera (or impostor) was on November 1, 2007 so how the hell do you explain this purchase contract dated several weeks before they ever met?
Can it get worse? Of course it can! Let's take a look at this excerpt from Mr. Barrera's credit report that shows all the inquiries that were made by the different lending institutions at the end of 2007 and beginning of 2008...
Notice that inquiry outlined in red? That inquiry was made by "GEMB" aka "GE Money Bank" on October 26, 2007 which means Mr. Orriols not only had all of Mr. Barrera's information and applied for financing for the boat well before November 1, 2007 when he allegedly met Mr. Barrera (or impostor) at the imaginary boat show, it also proves that he was somewhat less than truthful in his statement to the detective investigating this case of identity theft. Let's not forget Mr. Orriol's rap sheet which the Detective would have pulled before interviewing him, look at the charges the state pressed against him on one case alone...
For fcuks sake, how the hell did this detective go and question this guy regarding a crime involving bank fraud and identity theft without arresting him on the spot?! WTF?! What about all the conflicting dates he gave in his statement?! For christ's sakes, what the hell is wrong here? Can cops be this stupid? Whether or not Bernardo Barrera's identity was stolen or not for the commission of this crime, the guy the detective is interviewing who's at the center of this crime is not only lying through his teeth but has a history of bank fraud and identity theft. What exactly does it take to make this detective suspicious of this Orriols character?! What's worse, is here we are 3 years later, what do you think the status of this case according to the Miami Dade Police Department?
Did you really expect any different? Am I the only one that thinks the identity theft case involving the boat and the identity theft case involving the Oak Avenue home have anything to do with each other? At the very least, if I was investigating the Barrera mortgage fraud case, wouldn't this previous instance of Mr. Barrera getting his identity stolen be of importance to me? What if there was the slightest chance that the two cases were related? Of course, anyone with a modicum of common sense investigating the mortgage fraud case would want to comb over the first identity theft case with a fine tooth comb in search of leads right? Let's see what Detective Jorge Baluja, the lead detective in the Barrera mortgage fraud case tells us during his deposition regarding the first case where Mr. Barrera got his identity stolen...
That's it huh? He didn't "get into specifics about it." So this previous case of your victim getting his identity stolen wasn't important to the case that you were currently investigating where your victim also gets his identity stolen?
No $hit? Ok, at the very least, you noted this identity theft case that occurred just four months prior to the case you were investigating in your report Detective Baluja, correct?
Oh, crap. So the previous identity theft case wasn't even mentioned in the report that Detective Baluja wrote regarding the mortgage fraud case? Surely the Detective must have thought it a little strange that Mr. Barrera's identity was stolen twice within four months, couldn't the two cases have been related Detective Baluja? Wouldn't you want to know details about the first case, who knows the two cases may have something in common?
Two instances where the same "victim" gets his identity stolen for the commission of six figure frauds and this idiot didn't think he needed to look into both cases? Can anyone figure out how this guy became a detective?
Don't fret folks, we're working on another angle, there may be justice after all...
If you've ever had your identity stolen, you know the kind of mess it creates for you. I had my identity stolen about 16 years ago, no big deal, someone had gotten a couple of credit cards under my name without my consent and charged away. I immediately called all the different card companies and credit reporting agencies and notified them of the situation. Once I did that I thought I had it all behind me, little did I know what I had gotten myself into! Once I got the fraudulent items discharged and removed from my credit my identity was flagged within all the credit bureau's as having been a victim of identity theft. From this point forward there were no more instant credit approvals at department stores or car dealers, every request for credit I made from that point on had to be manually approved by whoever was considering my credit worthiness. Now that was for small stuff, if I was applying for major credit (car, home, etc) it was even worse, you can't imagine what kind of hassle I had to go through in order to get ANY KIND OF CREDIT after my identity was stolen. In fact it obtaining credit became such a hassle over the next few years, I actually abstained from getting any new credit at all.
What's my 16 year old identity theft have to do with our blog? It's safe to conclude from my story that if you were a victim of identity theft any credit card, loan, etc that you try to obtain after you claimed your identity was stolen is going to be a major pain in the ass, whoever is considering lending you money is going to go through your request for credit with a fine tooth comb and turn your life upside down before giving you a cent. In other words, the last thing in the world you'd want to do if you were running a mortgage fraud scam with a straw buyer would be to have them claim their identity was stolen right before you pull of your scam right? Imagine if Mr. Barrera was really involved in the fraudulent purchase of the Oak Avenue home, based on what we've gleaned from my story, it would have been much more difficult (if not impossible) for Mr. Barrera or the people who were using his credit to obtain a loan from Citi Mortgage for the purchase of the home. So how the hell did Mr. Barrera or the people who used his credit get the loan for the Oak Avenue home when we learned that in early February 2008 Mr. Barrera had claimed his identity was stolen on another fraudulent deal? Let's let the documents tell the story, here's a page from the 1003 loan application that Mr. Barrera filled out for the Oak Avenue home mortgage...
Notice the date? January 16, 2008. So far so good. Just 9 days later GE Money, the bank that lent the money on the fraudulent boat purchase mails a statement for the loan to Mr. Barrera's address...
It's safe to conclude that by the end of January or the first week of February 2008 that even if on the odd chance that Mr. Barrera really got his identity stolen for this boat deal, he was alerted to its existence well before he told the police he found out his identity was stolen for the boat deal. Now, let's take a look at that Citi Mortgage commitment letter for the Oak Avenue home loan that Citi mailed to Mr. Barrera's primary residence...
That letter from Citi Mortgage was mailed to Mr. Barrera's primary residence on January 31, 2008, we can only assume it reached Mr. Barrera within a week of leaving Citi Mortgage's Ann Arbor Michigan office. Once Citi issued the commitment letter, the mortgage for the Oak Avenue fraud was a done deal, from this point on there was no more scrutiny of Mr. Barrera's credit history in other words, wouldn't this be a great time to report the other identity theft? Take a look at the date on the police report for the boat identity theft deal...
You see that? The report was filed on February 8, 2008 after Citi Mortgage sent the commitment letter for the Oak Avenue mortgage, essentially at this point the Oak Avenue mortgage was a done deal. Remember, once Mr. Barrera screams identity theft, he's busted out, his usefulness as a straw buyer is finished. Coincidence or perfectly engineered scam?
That's enough for now. Let's not forget that this steaming pile of $hit that the state calls a case is only 6 days away from trial...
I've learned over the last few months while studying these cases of fraud and identity theft that timing is everything. Whether we're talking about the exact date and time Bernardo Barrera claimed his identity was stolen, when the purchase contract for the Oak avenue property was signed or when the arrests in the Bernardo Barrera mortgage fraud case were made, none of these events occurred randomly, each and every one of those events were precisely timed by the people involved. Why is it though that no one in the PD or the SAO can see what's happened? How could the states version of events be so different from what really happened? After all it's not like I summoned up some sort of super powers to gain some insight into this case!
For those of you in the Miami Dade Police Department and the State Attorneys Office, let me tell you a little story from back when my identity was stolen nearly 15 years ago. Some miscreant decided to pose as me and use my identity to get a bunch of credit cards, once I found out about it, I quickly contacted all the financial institutions that I worked with and put them on notice. All the charges were reversed and I was let off the hook for any liability that arose from the ID theft. The problem was for nearly five years after the incident, obtaining ANY KIND OF CREDIT was a major hassle for me. No more instant credit approvals, everything I applied for had to be manually reviewed by the company who was offering me credit so they could verify that it was really me that was trying to obtain the credit. From there on out, my name was flagged and anything involving credit had become a nightmare for me. A total disaster.
With that in mind, consider that Mr. Barrera had claimed that his identity was stolen in ANOTHER FRAUD case less than 30 days before he reported the ID theft in the mortgage fraud case! With what I know from my ID theft experience, I know it would have been damn near impossible for Mr. Barrera or someone posing as Mr. Barrera to get a mortgage shortly after he cried ID theft on the other case! Sure they would have eventually given him the mortgage, but they would have gone through the loan application with a fine tooth comb and probably looked up Mr. Barreras ass before they ever gave him a cent! So what happened here? I'm sure Detective Baluja went through the first identity theft case and left no stone unturned in his quest for the facts right? I think we know better than that by now!
I read a story in the Miami Herald on October 7, 2008 regarding a mortgage fraud case that didn't make any sense to me, I did a little digging and what I found left me stunned. A tale of a task force head whose political ambitions have run amuck, a detective without a modicum of common sense, a reporter that prints anything that's put in front of him, the railroading of an attorney by this machine to further the ambitions of its head and the lengths that those involved will go to in order to salvage a case that should have never been. Please take the time to start from the oldest post first and enjoy...
