Rabuffo’s $49.6M Mortgage Fraud: Trio Sentenced

MIAMI – Miami’s Domenico “Dom” Rabuffo isn’t the only one behind bars in his $49.6 million mortgage fraud scheme. The DOJ announced yesterday that Rabuffo’s ex-wife, Mae Rabuffo, has been sentenced to 14 years for her part in the elaborate scheme, while two recruiters, Raymond E. “Ray” Olivier and Curtis Allen Davis, were each handed a 20-year sentence.

The Rabuffos, along with Olivier and Davis, conspired from 2003 to 2008 to swindle various FDIC-insured lenders, including Bank of America, Regions Bank, SunTrust Bank, and Wachovia Bank. They used shell companies to control Hampton Springs, a North Carolina property development, defrauding lenders by paying straw borrowers with proceeds from the fraudulent scheme.

According to court documents, Dom Rabuffo paid borrowers to secure loans for building lots at Hampton Springs, submitting false loan applications and forged signatures on documents. He and his co-conspirators also sent fraudulent correspondence to closing agents, creating the illusion that borrowers were funding their own deposits.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, announced the sentences along with George L. Piro of the FBI Miami Field Office and Jason T. Moran of the FDIC-OIG Atlanta Regional Office. Chief Judge K. Michael Moore presided over the sentencing hearing.

Additionally, three other defendants, Diane M. Hayduk and Victor Miguel Vidal of Miami, and Lazaro Jesus Perez of Miami Springs, have already entered guilty pleas and are to assist the United States in their investigation. Hayduk and Vidal are charged with aiding and abetting the Rabuffos in misappropriating loan proceeds, while Perez provided false accountant letters to support fraudulent applications.

This conviction serves as a stark reminder of the cunning methods used by organized crime in white-collar fraud, and the severe consequences for those who participate in such schemes.