SHARE

Feds nab Maywood businessman as he’s going to court for another crime

A former mortgage broker from Maywood and an alleged co-conspirator were arrested by federal authorities early Thursday in connection with $7 million worth of mortgage fraud involving at least 50 properties.

Photo Credit: Cliffview Pilot


Frank Carallo, 37, came to federal court today after pleading guilty for his involvement in another mortgage fraud when agents from the FBI and the Secret Service picked him up.

They arrested Eddie “Eddie Dukeman” Dukhman, 34, of Sewaren, at his home a short time earlier, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman said.

Dukhman, who claimed to be in the real estate business, and Corallo, a former mortgage broker, got help from two attorneys in arranging to buy “real estate-owned” properties and pass them on to buyers whom they referred to as “borrowers,” federal authorities said.

By falsifying documents, including loan applications, the defendants got borrowers “to apply and obtain loans on properties that they did not own,” a spokesperson for Fishman said. They also failed to record deeds with the county clerk’s office, she said.

Specifically, Dukhman and Corallo claimed the buyer of the property “was the borrower (rather than Dukhman); that the borrowers put money down at the closing; that the properties would be the primary residences of the borrowers; that the borrowers had more assets and earned more than they actually did; and that the purchase price was almost twice” than it actually was, a statement from Fishman said.

When the loans were approved, the two attorneys — apparently un-indicted co-conspirators — deposited the loan moneys into trust accounts, then acted as closing agents for for Dukhman, the government alleges.

After paying the closing costs, the attorneys split the proceeds among Dukhman, Corallo, and themselves, a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Newark says.

Dukhman altered the deeds to appear as though the sale was between the bank and the borrower for the listed price, federal authorities allege. Yet they said the crew went a further: “Altered deeds were filed in the county clerk’s office – leaving Dukhman out of the title history.”

On top of that, Fishman’s prosecutors say, Dukhman “set up shell companies to receive the proceeds of the fraud. To that end, proceeds were funneled through financial institutions in the United States and ultimately transferred to various foreign accounts, including an account in the Cook Islands.”

The government is going after that money, Fishman said. Heading the team are Assistant United States Attorneys Stacey A. Levine of the Heath Care and Government Fraud Unit and Peter Gaeta of the Office’s Asset Forfeiture Unit.

Fishman noted that the case was brought “in coordination with President Barack Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. President Obama established the interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force to wage an aggressive, coordinated, and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes.

“The task force includes representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general, and state and local law enforcement who, working together, bring to bear a powerful array of criminal and civil enforcement resources,” Fishman said.

“The task force is working to improve efforts across the federal executive branch, and with state and local partners, to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes, ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets, and recover proceeds for victims of financial crimes,” he added.

to follow Daily Voice Hackensack and receive free news updates.

SCROLL TO NEXT ARTICLE