Las Vegas Couple Accused of Bank Fraud, Money Laundering

A real estate broker in Las Vegas and her husband are alleged to have made millions of dollars devising a mortgage fraud scheme.^[1]

According to Gregory Bower, U.S. Attorney for Nevada, Eve Mazzarella and her husband, Steven Grimm, were indicted Wednesday on bank fraud, money laundering and aiding and abetting charges.^[2]

Grimm, has already been arrested. His wife, Eve Mazzarella is still being sought. If convicted, each could face decades in prison and millions of dollars in fines.^[3]

The government accuses Mazzerella and Grimm of buying more than 200 properties at inflated values utilizing limited liability companies and straw buyers to make purchase offers.^[4]

The couple is accused of controlling transactions worth more than $100 million. According to authorities they defaulted on mortgage payments on many of the loans, which lead to at least 118 properties being sold in foreclosure.^[5]

As noted above the couple was indicted on a number of charges including bank fraud and money laundering.^[6]

Bank fraud is committed when a person knowingly executes, or attempts to execute, a scheme or artifice, 1) to defraud a financial institution;^[7] or 2) to obtain any of the moneys, funds, credits, assets, securities, or other property owned by, or under the custody or control of, a financial institution, by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises; this shall be fined not more than $1,000,000 or imprisoned not more than 30 years, or both.^[8]

The money laundering statute used in this case is 18 U.S.C. § 1957(a), which makes it a crime for a person to knowingly engage or attempt to engage in a monetary transaction in criminally derived property worth more than $10,000 which is derived from specified unlawful activity. The punishment for a violation of section 1957 is a fine, imprisonment for up to 10 years, or both.^[9]

Federal criminal defense attorney, Douglas McNabb has previously written on Bank Fraud here and on Money Laundering here.

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[1] Associated Press, Las Vegas Couple Faces Federal Charges in Mortgage Fraud Case, Associated Press, March 13, 2008 (available at www.ap.org).
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] Id.
[5] Id.
[6] Id.
[7] 18 U.S.C. § 1344 (1).
[8] 18 U.S.C. § 1344 (2).
[9] 18 U.S.C. § 1957.