Two indicted, accused of defrauding Cendant Mortgage

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In the following press release To view links in this forum your post count must be 10 or greater. Your post count is 0 momentarily. announced that federal prisoner originally from Philadelphia and another man were indicted today for allegedly running a wire fraud and money laundering scheme that involved misdirecting approximately $2 million in wire transfers from Cendant Mortgage Corporation to a Florida title agency.
The nine-count Indictment describes a scheme in which Reginald Greene, 47, a.k.a. “Amin,” a federal prisoner at the time of the crime, and an unidentified Cendant Mortgage Corporation insider(s), attempted to cause 15 wire transfers that Cendant directed to Sunbelt Title Agency to be misdirected to banks accounts controlled by their co-conspirators, including Greene’s co-defendant Michael Umali, 38, a.k.a.“Khadafi,” of Oxon Hill, Md. Seven of the 15 wire transfers, totaling approximately $845,000, were successfully misdirected.

Greene, Umali and other unindicted co-conspirators, including relatives and associates, then allegedly laundered the proceeds of the seven successfully misdirected wire transfers by moving the funds through various bank accounts, cashing checks made out to “cash,” and purchasing expensive items. During the laundering phase of the crime, Greene
escaped from federal prison in Atlanta, Ga., where he was serving a 13-year prison sentence for a bank fraud.

According to the Indictment, the funds being transferred represented the proceeds of 15 residential mortgage loans and were intended to pay sales prices and closing costs totaling approximately $2 million.

According to the Indictment, from July 2003 until January 2004, Greene devised and operated the scheme to defraud Cendant, now known as PHH Mortgage. The Indictment alleges that Greene conspired with an unidentified individual(s) who had access to the operations software system of Cendant. With the ability to access the software system, the unidentified individual(s) allegedly altered the wire transfer instructions within the software system to misdirect funds that were intended to be wire transferred to Sunbelt Title Agency, which has locations throughout Florida.

As a result, the funds were wire transferred to the accounts of Umali and Dan Hutchinson Jr., 28, of Washington, D.C., instead of Sunbelt Title Agency. Thereafter, the funds were transferred to the control and benefit of Greene, the unidentified individual(s), and their associates and relatives, including Greene’s son, Reginald Greene, Jr., 27, a.k.a. “Duane Massey” of Upper Darby, Pa.

Hutchinson and Green, Jr., have pleaded guilty to their roles in the scheme and await sentencing. Greene and Umali were in federal custody prior to being indicted and will be arraigned on the Indictment when the case is assigned to a U.S. District Judge. During the time period covered in the Indictment, Greene was an inmate and an escapee from a federal correctional facility in Atlanta. Greene was captured and returned to prison to continue serving his unrelated prison sentence. Umali was serving a term of supervised release at the time the alleged offenses were committed. Umali and Greene met while they were serving prior prison terms. Umali was recently arrested on a violation of supervised release for allegedly committing the offenses contained in the Indictment.

Greene is charged in Counts One through Seven of the Indictment with wire fraud, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 or twice the aggregate loss to the victims or gain to the defendants. Greene and Umali are charged in Count Eight of the Indictment with conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 or twice the aggregate loss to the victims or gain to the defendants. Count Nine charges both defendants with money laundering, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in
prison and a fine of $250,000.

In determining an actual sentence, the judge to whom the case is assigned would, upon a conviction, consult the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which provide appropriate sentencing ranges that take into account the severity and characteristics of the offense, the defendant’s criminal history, if any, and other factors. The judge, however, is not bound
by those guidelines in determining a sentence. Parole has been abolished in the federal system. Defendants who are given custodial terms must serve nearly all that time. Despite indictment, each of the defendants is presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Christie credited Special Agents of the FBI’s Trenton Resident Agency, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Weysan Dun in Newark, with the continuing investigation. The Government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald Chillemi of the Criminal Division in Camden.
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