Another Attorney Is Charged in Mortgage Fraud Case re High-End Versailles Development in South Fla.
A Miami-area attorney charged in a federal mortgage fraud prosecution is at least the third Florida lawyer to face a criminal case concerning the high-end Versailles development near Wellington.
Kimberly S. Daise, 48, was charged with conspiracy to commit fraud on a financial institution and wire fraud, reports the South Florida Business Journal. If convicted, she could be sentenced to as much as 30 years.
She is accused in a criminal information (PDF) of submitting false documentation to lenders, while working as a title and closing agent, concerning some $3.2 million in loans involving about $500,000 in claimed fraudulent loan proceeds.
Daise allegedly submitted one HUD-1 form to sellers with the correct selling price, and a second version of the same document with a higher selling price to lenders, thus misleading them about the purchase price for the property and how their funds were to be distributed. The difference between the purchase prices on the “double HUD-1s” was allegedly distributed, via Daise, to the co-conspirators.
“After the closings, the defendant or her co-conspirators made mortgage payments on the properties for a short period of time and then defaulted on the loans, causing substantial losses,” the information states.
The Business Journal says it was unable to reach Daise for comment.
A press release by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida provides further details.
As discussed in an earlier ABAJournal.com post, at least two other real estate lawyers have also been federally charged concerning the same development:
Lawyer Who Fought Foreclosure Fraud Takes Federal Plea in Straw-Buyer Money-Laundering Conspiracy
