Jason Moreno, Mortgage Fraud, Pennsylvania 2007

Pittsburgh Man Sentenced in Mortgage Scheme

In a shocking case of mortgage fraud, Jason Moreno, 30, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced to 96 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, on his conviction of wire fraud and wire fraud conspiracy.

According to information presented to the court, Moreno committed and conspired to commit wire fraud from November 2005 to November 2007, as the owner and operator of Platinum Appraisal Services. Moreno’s company regularly prepared fraudulent appraisals that overstated the values of properties serving as collateral for loans.

The schemes involved two primary actors: Robert Arakelian, who operated Pittsburgh Home Loans, and James Platts, who operated Easy Realty Solutions. In both cases, borrowers were misled about the financial wherewithal to make down payments and mortgage payments.

Moreno’s role was to provide fraudulent appraisals that overstated the values of properties. He falsely represented that a licensed appraiser prepared the appraisals, despite not being licensed to prepare appraisals himself. Moreno also invested in some of the properties and misled borrowers and lenders on numerous aspects of the transactions.

Some of those transactions involved his own family members, including his mother, his aunt, and his uncle. Assistant United States Attorney Brendan T. Conway prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

United States Attorney David J. Hickton commended the Mortgage Fraud Task Force for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Moreno. The Mortgage Fraud Task Force is comprised of investigators from federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, as well as others involved in the mortgage industry.

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