Virgin Islands Senator Alvin Williams, Jr. Indicted By Federal Grand Jury

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ST. THOMAS—”A federal grand jury today returned an indictment charging Virgin Islands Senator Alvin Williams, Jr., 34, with operating and participating in a criminal enterprise whose members and associates engaged in illegal activities, including bribery, mail fraud, and wire fraud. Two of Williams’ legislative staff members, Garry Sprauve, 64, and Kim Blackett, 29, also were charged in the indictment.

The indictment, which contains both Virgin Islands and federal charges, further alleges that from February 21, 2007 to November 18, 2011, Williams solicited a bribe from the developers of the Raphune Vista housing project on St. Thomas. The indictment also alleges that Williams promoted legislative action and supported the authorization of funding and zoning of the project in exchange for which Ace Development Inc. received a contract related to the construction of the Raphune Vista project. The indictment further alleges that, as part of the contract, Ace Development Inc. used and/or rented to the developers of the housing project, pieces of construction equipment.

The indictment alleges that between September 1, 2008 and September 31, 2008, Williams solicited and received a bribe of $10,000 in campaign contributions from the developers of the Tutu Park wind turbine project in exchange for Williams’ influence and promotion of legislation in support of the wind turbine project. The indictment also alleges that between September 22, 2008 and September 2009, Williams solicited a bribe of $25,000 in campaign contributions from the developers of the Tutu Park wind turbine project in exchange for Williams’ influence and promotion of legislation in support of the project.”

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Robert Mueller, FBI Director, Set To Leave Office In 2013

“Beyond the reshuffling of President Obama’s Cabinet, another key personnel decision is looming in the administration’s second term. In the coming months, Obama will decide a successor to Robert Mueller, the longest-serving FBI director since J. Edgar Hoover.”

Source:  Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY

[new post] Congressional Testimony: Dottie Lafortune to Bill Windsor of Lawless America in Maine

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2010 Mortgage Fraud Report Year in Review

2010 Mortgage Fraud Report

(Of particular importance, note page 5 Mortgage Fraud Perpetrators)

Scope Note

The purpose of this study is to provide insight into the breadth and depth of mortgage fraud crimes perpetrated against the United States and its citizens during 2010. This report updates the 2009 Mortgage Fraud Report and addresses current mortgage fraud projections, issues, and the identification of mortgage fraud “hot spots.” The objective of this study is to provide FBI program managers and the general public with relevant data to better understand the threat posed by mortgage fraud. The report was requested by the Financial Crimes Section, Criminal Investigative Division (CID), and prepared by the Financial Crimes Intelligence Unit (FCIU), Directorate of Intelligence (DI).

This report is based on FBI; federal, state, and local law enforcement; mortgage industry; and open-source reporting. Information was also provided by other government agencies, including the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-Office of Inspector General (HUD-OIG), the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), and the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). Industry reporting was obtained from LexisNexis, Mortgage Asset Research Institute (MARI), RealtyTrac, Inc., Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), Interthinx, and CoreLogic. Some industry reporting was acquired through open sources.

While the FBI has high confidence in all of these sources, some inconsistencies relative to the cataloging of statistics by some organizations are noted. For example, suspicious activity reports (SARs) are cataloged according to the year in which they are submitted, but the information contained within them may describe activity that occurred in previous months or years. The geographic specificity of industry reporting varies, as some companies report at the ZIP code level and others by city, region, or state. Many of the statistics provided by the external sources, including FinCEN, FHA, and HUD-OIG, are captured by fiscal year (FY); however, this report focuses on the calendar year findings as reported by mortgage industry and economic data sources. Additionally, there are also variances in the reporting of fraud depending on who the victim is (either a financial institution or a homeowner). While these discrepancies have minimal impact on the overall findings stated in this report, we have noted specific instances in the text where they may affect conclusions.

See Appendix A for additional information for these sources.

Geospatial maps were provided by the Crime Analysis Research and Development Unit, Criminal Justice Information Services Division.