Two City of Miami firefighters convicted of mortgage fraud yet two drastically different sentences...

Perhaps a strange coincidence or possibly something else going on?  Two veteran City of Miami firefighters engaged in massive mortgage fraud conspiracies, former assistant fire chief Veldora Arthur and firefighter Thomas Thelusma, both federally indicted.  Ms. Arthur goes to trial and loses while Mr. Thelusma decides to cut a deal with the government.  While Ms Arthur's mortgage fraud scheme was far greater than Mr. Thelusma's, there seems to be some disparity in their sentences.


As we discussed back in March, Ms Arthur was able to get away without paying back a single dollar to the banks that she defrauded, in case you missed it, here's her restitution order again...

Veldora Arthur Restitution Order

Rather shocking isn't it?  Despite having defrauded several banks out of millions of dollars, somehow Ms Arthur doesn't have to pay them back?!  No restitution whatsoever!  That's all well and good till one of our readers left us this comment last week...

Thomas Thelusma was sentenced and ordered to pay $1,035,000.00 for restitution! That must be some good ***** she has. Did she **** and **** everyone?? 

HUH?  How the hell could that be?  I pulled up Mr. Thelusma's sentencing order and found the following...

Thomas Thelusma Judgement

As I expected, Mr. Thelusma has to pay back the banks that he defrauded to the tune of $1,035,000!

I don't get it, every other convicted mortgage fraudster that we've written about has had to pay the banks they ripped off back.  Joe Guaracino from the Plantation Cops case has to pay the banks back upwards of three million, John Romney from the Bernardo Barrera case, over half a million, etc.  


You have to ask how the hell did Veldora Arthur get away without having to pay the banks back while these other guys are going to be saddled with this debt for the rest of their lives?

The jury is still out on the Plantation cops mortgage fraud case and some bad news for City of Miami assistant fire chief Veldora Arthur and fellow federally indicted firefighter Thomas Thelusma...

As the title of the post states, the jury is still deliberating on the Plantation cops mortgage fraud case.  While we're waiting for the outcome of that case, let's revisit the trial of federally indicted city of Miami assistant fire chief Veldora Arthur.  As we mentioned yesterday her trial has already begun, the jury was picked yesterday and are expected to be sworn in this morning.


There is a bit of bad news for Veldora and fellow federally indicted city of Miami firefighter Thomas Thelusma, as we mentioned earlier this month, both Veldora and Thelusma share a codefendant in their respective indictments, a fellow named Patrick Brinson.  Mr Brinson was indicted in both Veldora's case and Thelusma's case, I predicted that the weight of the government coming down on him on two different massive mortgage fraud indictments was going to be too much for him to bear, it looks like I was right on the money...

Factual Proffer Patrick Brinson

Essentially through his change of plea and his factual proffer, Mr. Brinson has admitted to all the facts of the federal indictment and has also agreed to cooperate fully with the prosecution against his remaining codefendants.   In other words, THEY'RE FUCKED!  

Regardless though, Ms Arthur has now hired a second attorney, Herbert Erving Walker, along with her original attorney Larry Handfield in order to help keep her out of federal prison.  Good luck!

Who's this Patrick Brinson character? And so much for Veldora Arthur's motion to dismiss her indictment...

In researching City of Miami assistant fire chief Veldora Arthur's mortgage fraud case we've come across a new character that wasn't part of the original federal indictment, a guy named Patrick Brinson.  Somehow in all the hoopla over her indictment I managed to overlook Mr. Brinson, as we discussed yesterday, Mr. Brinson has come forward with a motion to dismiss the federal mortgage fraud indictment on the grounds that his rights to a speedy trial had been violated.  The government submitted an accurate accounting of the actual days that are to be counted towards his "speedy trial" time frame yesterday and pretty much closes the door on that motion...

Speedy Trial Report for Patrick Brinson and Veldora Arthur

So who is this Patrick Brinson?  According to the government, Mr. Brinson was indicted on February 11, 2011 with the group that Veldora was involved in, but then something interesting happens just thirteen days later, Mr. Brinson gets indicted for mortgage fraud again...

Second Federal Mortgage Fraud Indictment for Patrick l. Brinson

Now, among other things this creates a problem for Veldora and her other co-defendants, fighting one federal indictment is tough but doable but fighting two simultaneously is something else all together.  You may have a decent chance of marshaling your resources and getting out from under the weight of a federal investigation and subsequent criminal trial, but when the government slams you with a second similar indictment, the chances of you being able to defeat both go up exponentially.  If I had to guess, I'd say that at some point in the near future, Mr. Brinson will cut a deal and testify against his co-defendants unless he has a massive war chest set aside for defending both indictments.  This could potentially be the remaining co-defendants worse nightmare.


Regardless of what Mr. Brinson decides to do, there's another interesting detail that bears mentioning, let's take a look the first page of his mortgage fraud indictment again...

Take a look at those two items indicated by the red arrows, co-defendant David Lam and a community called Versailles.  For those of you who've been following another federal mortgage fraud case involving another veteran City of Miami firefighter, the name and community may sound familiar, anyone remember Thomas Thelusma?  Here's a copy of his indictment...

Thomas Thelusma Federal Mortgage Fraud Indictment

It looks like Veldora Arthur's co-defendant Patrick Brinson was also indicted in a mortgage fraud involving homes in the Versailles community in Palm Beach along with David Lam who was indicted with Thomas Thelusma in another alleged mortgage fraud scheme in the very same community!  That's a tight group of people over at the city of Miami fire department, isn't it now?

What remains to be seen though is how much longer will she be on paid administrative leave?  Or worse, what happens if she's found guilty?  Will the she still collect a paycheck from the city if she's behind bars?  Oh well.  Veldora's trial is just around the corner, we'll see what happens soon enough. 

It's about time. The Miami Herald finally gives credit to one of our friends and local bloggers, Al Crespo, for breaking a story.

As the title of today's post states, Chuck Rabin of the Miami Herald has finally decided to give credit to our friend and local blogger Al Crespo of the Crespo Gram report for breaking the story of former City of Miami CFO Larry Spring's illegal severance package. It's nice to finally see mainstream media like the Herald giving credit to the people who work tirelessly and for free for doing the research and breaking these kind of stories that they usually wont report on. From the Herald article...

The payout to Spring—first reported on Al Crespo’s blog, thecrespogramreportcom — has created a furor in the local blogosphere, confusion at City Hall, and anger among some city commissioners and the mayor.

So it took "furor in the local blogosphere" before the Herald finally decided to acknowledge the corruption and outright theft that's been going on in the City? After being asleep at the switch ever since Regalado was elected mayor, the Herald has finally woken up. Great.

In my opinion the Herald giving credit to Mr. Crespo for breaking the story is a milestone, Mr. Crespo says it best in the comments section of the Herald article...

To Chuck Rabin and the Miami Herald, thanks for the credit. The times are changing, and I think that you all need to not only start crediting bloggers more, but more importantly piggybacking off our of initial efforts. You can't do what we do, but we can't do what you do either.

Correct, I've always given credit to the Herald or whoever else I get a story or information from, it's about time the Herald does the same. Which leads us to Mr. Rabin's Herald article regarding City of Miami Assistant Fire Chief Veldora Arthur's federal mortgage fraud indictment story we broke a few months back. As you all remember, our blog post was published on February 21, 2011...

The very next day Mr. Rabin of the Herald writes his story about Veldora's indictment...

No big deal right? What Mr. Rabin doesn't know is that I was watching him read our blog at 9:32 in the morning on the 22nd of February hours before he wrote his story. How do I know? Take a look at our blog tracking software report for that morning (click on image to enlarge)...

Our blog analytic software tells us that the folks at the Herald were perusing through our Veldora blog post from 9:32 am through 11:37 am ripping off our story without giving us credit. No big deal Mr. Rabin, like Mr. Crespo said...

The times are changing, and I think that you all need to not only start crediting bloggers more, but more importantly piggybacking off our of initial efforts. You can't do what we do, but we can't do what you do either.

Now, let's turn to a disturbing comment we received yesterday regarding City of Miami employees Veldora Arthur and Thomas Thelusma's employment status with the City since their federal mortgage fraud indictments...

Anonymous said...

FIRE CHIEF TOOK TOM THELUSMA I.D AND BADGE AWAY BUT COCK SUCKING VELDORA ARTHUR STILL HAS HERS. VELDORA HAS NOT BE SEEN IN 2 MONTH OR LONGER. I GUESS SHE IS IN THE BAHAMAS ON TAXPAYERS PAID LEAVE ! AND YES THE BLACK THING DOES HAVE SOME MEANING , JUST GO TO THE AMINISTRATION AND SPECIALLY SUPPORT STAFF AND YOU WILL SEE HOW DARK IT IS AROUND THERE . MFD AT AN ALL TIME LOW MORALE AND WILL CONTINUE TO BE TILL THEY CLEAN HOUSE. . IF YOU THINK VELDORA IS THE ONLY ONE NOT IN THE OFFICE , JUST GO BY HQ AND PEEP IN , YOU WILL FIND NO ONE THERE PAST 1:30 PM.

June 22, 2011 10:54 AM

I wasn't sure whether or not this comment was accurate, so I reached out to one of our sources in the fire department who clarified things for us, his responses are in blue..

"FIRE CHIEF TOOK TOM THELUSMA I.D AND BADGE AWAY BUT COCK SUCKING VELDORA ARTHUR STILL HAS HERS.
I believe this was true during their respective periods of "Paid Administrative Leave" but Thelusma was only on leave for less than 2 weeks

VELDORA HAS NOT BE SEEN IN 2 MONTH OR LONGER.

True, longer

I GUESS SHE IS IN THE BAHAMAS ON TAXPAYERS PAID LEAVE !

She has in fact traveled for personal reasons during her absence but from the records i have seen; she was charged vacation time for those absences

AND YES THE BLACK THING DOES HAVE SOME MEANING , JUST GO TO THE ADMINISTRATION AND SPECIALLY SUPPORT STAFF AND YOU WILL SEE HOW DARK IT IS AROUND THERE .

Thelusma and Arthur are both black. If he means "How dark it is" = alot of blacks; there are in fact alot more blacks in the fire administrative upper ranks than there was 10 years ago, but alot of it began under the previous anglo chief not chief kemp, so Im not sure what this guys point is but its out of context.

(1)MFD AT AN ALL TIME LOW MORALE (2)AND WILL CONTINUE TO BE TILL THEY CLEAN HOUSE.
1. This is true but mostly because Fire Rescue personnel were singled out by the Mayor and received 20-30% pay cuts last year. 2-3 times as much percent as other city employees. This has nothing to do with veldora, thelusma or anything like that. 2. not true , it has nothing to do with cleaning house of veldora, thelusma or anybody else for that matter

IF YOU THINK VELDORA IS THE ONLY ONE NOT IN THE OFFICE , JUST GO BY HQ AND PEEP IN , YOU WILL FIND NO ONE THERE PAST 1:30 PM.

Very exaggerated. The real heroes in the fire rescue department are definitely the firefighter/paramedics out on the street saving lives and definitely not the 20 or so behind desks shuffling papers, but the 1:30 part is an exaggeration. Most probably work longer days that they get paid for.

I'm glad we were able to get that cleared up. As our friend says, if Ms. Arthur isn't coming to work and being charged vacation time for her absence then it's not really "paid administrative leave" like our commenters have been suggesting.

Now, regardless of how the story of the City of Miami's former CFO Larry Spring questionable and perhaps illegal severance package became public, let's see what the folks over the City are going to do about it. Once again, congrats to our friends over at the Crespo-Gram report and Investigation Miami blog for the countless hours they put in to bring these stories to light.

Indicted City of Miami assistant fire chief Veldora Arthur and firefighter Thomas Thelusma on paid leave?! And "Operation Cop out", what's in a name?

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Could this be true? Several sources as well as several of our commenters tell us that both Veldora Arthur and Thomas Thelusma have been on paid administrative leave since they were federally indicted for mortgage fraud! From our comments section...

Anonymous said...

Where the F*^k are the Cops!Veldora Arthur has been on PAID LEAVE since March! Now Thomas Thelusma has the same special 'LEAVE' Plan!! WTF I total agree that all are innocent until proving guilty BUT that doesn't mean you CANT WORK. But then again we DON'T Get IT.....because its a 'Black Thing'.

May 19, 2011 10:09 AM

While I don't agree with the "black thing" comment, the rest is very troubling if true. As we've said time and time again, we believe in the presumption of innocence, innocent till proven guilty, but this business of getting federally indicted and then being put on paid administrative leave is a bit much, isn't it?


What's even more troubling is the fact that the cops indicted in operation "Cop out" aka the Plantation cops mortgage fraud case were put on "leave" without pay after they were indicted. Why did the cops get sent home with no money while having to prove their innocence while the City of Miami fire department employees get to stay home while still raking in six figures? Worse still, with the City of Miami teetering on the verge of bankruptcy, how the hell can they justify paying these federally indicted employees while they're sitting at home? Can we really afford to have anyone sitting at home while getting paid as if they were at work?


Now, going back to the Plantation Cops mortgage fraud case, aka "Operation Cop out", we learned yesterday that the decision to go after the cops was made by FDLE special agent Dennis Roadruck...

In the spoilation hearing before this court Lead Agent Dennis Roadruck testified that he in his sole disgression limited this investigation to the cops.

I wonder what it was about the cops that caused agent Roadruck to focus his attention on them and them alone? We've been told time and time again throughout the course of this investigation and subsequent trial that the mortgage brokers involved, Rene Rodriguez and Matt Gulla, had committed hundreds if not thousands of similar frauds. Even worse, the government was not only aware of these other cases of fraud but they also had the mortgage brokers records and hard drives which contained proof of these frauds, so why did this investigation only zero in on the cops that were indicted?

You guys hash it out and we'll discuss further next time.

Federally indicted City of Miami firefighter Thomas Thelusma claims he's indigent...

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City of Miami veteran firefighter Thomas Thelusma who was recently indicted in a multi million dollar mortgage fraud scheme can't afford to defend himself!  Can you believe it?  From the Websters dictionary definition of "indigent"...

1 : suffering from extreme poverty : impoverished

2 a archaic : deficient b archaic : totally lacking in something specified

— indigent noun

Suffering from extreme poverty, therefore lacking the money to pay for his defense?  Take a look at the motion before the court...

Thomas Thelusma is Indigent

So according to Mr. Thelusma he doesn't have the money to pay for his legal defense, let's take this into perspective for a moment, according to the Miami Herald's City of Miami employee salary data base, Mr Thelusma has collected $69,447.32 in base salary in 2011 ALONE!  Now, factor in what he must be taking in from his Pain Clinic operation plus the alleged ill gotten gains from his foray into mortgage fraud. Considering the potential income Mr. Thelusma must have, how the hell can he claim he's indigent?  As if that wasn't bad enough, look where Mr. Thelusma got the 10% for his bond...

That's right, Mr. Thelusma's 10% for his bond came from his church! He must be so down and out that he had to go to the church for his bail money! Nothing wrong with that, not to mention another argument for not being an atheist I guess...

There you have it folks, another public servant who gets in big trouble for business he was conducting while off duty only to stick his hand out to the taxpayers to foot the bill for his defense. Fantastic.

City of Miami Fire Department, a den of thieves? Another veteran City of Miami firefighter federally indicted in a massive mortgage fraud scheme yet somehow that may be the least of his problems...

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As some of you may have already heard, another veteran City of Miami firefighter, Thomas Thelusma, has been indicted in a massive mortgage fraud scheme.  From the Palm Beach Post...

Two more indicted in alleged Versailles mortgage fraud

By Pat Beall and Kimberly Miller
Palm Beach Post Staff Writers

Updated: 11:28 a.m. Friday, April 29, 2011
Posted: 8:25 a.m. Friday, April 29, 2011
Carl Alexander and Carol Asbury bet big on Versailles real estate deals.
This week, they lost big, indicted for their part in alleged mortgage fraud in the upscale Wellington community.
They join 24 others who have been indicted or charged in Versailles schemes worth millions, first outlined in a Palm Beach Post series in 2009.
Alexander was among a cluster of about two dozen buyers from the same low-income region of Miami-Dade County. The buyers collectively bought into the Wellington community, then abruptly defaulted on $41 million in loans.
Alexander, among the most prominent players in this cluster, had two personal bankruptcy petitions, one foreclosure filing and a misdemeanor worthless check charge behind him when his company secured a $1.05 million home in Versailles.
The firm, PTL Housing & Investments Inc., assumed management of five other Versailles homes, The Post found. All of the buyers lived within 15 miles of Opa-locka, one of the poorest communities in Miami-Dade County.
According to federal indictments released Wednesday, Alexander was in charge of recruiting the buyers. Usually people of modest means, these bogus buyers were paid anywhere from $700 to $15,000 to purchase a home.
Fraudulent closing documents prepared by Parkland real estate broker David Lam and Asbury concealed the fact that lenders were loaning more money than the actual price of the home, prosecutors said. The difference between the loan and the home price, they said, ultimately was pocketed by Alexander, Asbury and Lam - an estimated $1.8 million on the sale of four homes.
Asbury, 59, founded the Save My Home Law Group in late 2009, state records show. She also sponsors the popular blog 4closurefraud.com . That blog's daily postings of foreclosure documents and regular nationwide updates on court actions are partly credited for exposing the robo-signing scandal that pushed banks to freeze home repossessions in the fall.
"I find it very disturbing that the government must use all their resources to attack the people that are exposing the fraud and corruption," said Michael Redman, who runs the foreclosure blog. "Where are the indictments on all the known felonies committed by the banks, foreclosure mills and doc shops?"
Asbury's title company handled unusual sales. Asbury & Associates was the title company for Myrtice Richardson's $1 million Versailles purchase in 2007. From her 1950s-era, $147,000 Miami home, Richardson, then 71, bought a Versailles mini-mansion on the same street where her husband, Rufus, now deceased, and daughter, Adina, had purchased their own palatial properties.
Neighbors said they did not recall ever seeing the Richardsons move into their Versailles homes, all of which landed in foreclosure.
The Richardsons have not been charged with wrongdoing, and Asbury has not been charged with wrongdoing in the Richardson home sales.
Kenneth Martin, director of lawyer regulation for the Florida Bar, confirmed Thursday that the professional organization has an open investigation into Asbury regarding the mortgage fraud charges. Bar rules require attorneys to notify the Bar's executive director within 10 days of a criminal charge, but there is no automatic suspension or immediate action taken.
Six others have been charged in recent weeks in connection with Versailles mortgage frauds. Named are Godfrey Miles of Miami, a former University of Florida and pro football player; Patrick Brinson of Miami; Weston attorney Michael Samuda; Miami firefighter Thomas Thelusma; Hollywood mortgage broker Victoria Wilson; and David Miller of Miramar.
In all indictments, the alleged scheme was basically the same: Recruit fake buyers, fraudulently secure loans in excess of the purchase price and pocket the difference between the actual home sales price and the inflated loan.
Neither Alexander nor Asbury could be reached for comment. A spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office could not say whether either was in custody. Lam has pleaded not guilty.

What the hell is going on over at the fire department?  First we have veteran Assistant Fire Chief Veldora Arthur get indicted for her role in a $16mm mortgage fraud and now Thomas Thelusma?  Don't these guys make enough money without having to resort to committing eight figure crimes?  We all know that the overwhelming majority of firefighters are heroic men and women who put their lives on the line daily to keep the citizenry safe but these few rotten apples are giving the whole lot a bad name.   


As the title of today's post states though, the federal mortgage fraud indictment may not be as big of a problem as you'd think for Mr. Thelusma, our sources tell us he's got other trouble brewing over the horizon.  Seems like Mr. Thelusma may be the target of another investigation involving another one of his side businesses, a pain management clinic or as law enforcement calls them, "pill mills."  From the Sunbiz website...

Fuck it right?  If you're going to break the law, go all the way!  Mortgage fraud, pill mills and god only knows what else!

Even better, amidst all this news, the Miami Herald gives us this story regarding the city fire department...

Twenty chainsaws were stolen from a City of Miami fire station, 1151 NW Seventh St. A lieutenant told police that he noticed the missing equipment while doing inventory April 13.

You can certainly count out Veldora and Thomas in this caper, they don't have time for petty nickle and dime bullshit like this!