A Santa Fe man has been arraigned on an 11-count indictment alleging nearly $300,000 in federal income tax fraud charges, the IRS and the New Mexico U.S. Attorney’s Office announced late last week.

U.S. Attorney Damon P. Martinez and Ismael Nevarez Jr., special agent in charge of the Phoenix Field Office of the IRS Criminal Investigation Division, said in a news release Friday that Darryl J. Gutierrez, 60, was arrested Wednesday on an indictment filed on Nov. 5. Gutierrez made his initial appearance in federal court in Albuquerque on Thursday and pleaded not guilty, the news release said.

Source

BENSALEM, Pa.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Law Offices of Howard G. Smith announces an investigation on behalf of investors of Foresight Energy, LP (“Foresight Energy” or the “Company”) (NYSE: FELP) concerning the Company’s and its officers’ possible violations of federal securities laws. The investigation focuses on the Company’s allegedly misleading statements leading up to the October 29, 2015, Foresight Energy disclosure that its Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Oscar Martinez, would be stepping down on November 13, 2015. The Company also reported less-than-expected Q3 2015 financial results, failing to meet revenue estimates by nearly $20 million. Upon this news, Foresight Energy shares dropped 25% to a close of $5.16 per share.

Source

NEWARK N.J. – An Elizabeth, New Jersey, man today admitted recruiting straw buyers and submitting bogus loan applications as part of large-scale mortgage fraud scheme involving properties in northern New Jersey, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Miguel LaRosa, 48, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton in Newark federal court of an information charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

LaRosa admitted that, from March 2011 through November 2012, he conspired with others to fraudulently obtain mortgages using falsified loan applications, supporting documents and closing documents. In addition to recruiting straw buyers to purchase properties, LaRosa and others created misleading certifications that bank accounts contained a specific amount of money when they actually contained less, prepared false appraisal reports, back-dated deeds and used unlicensed title agents to close transactions and disburse the mortgage proceeds.

Source

Detroit — A priest who pleaded guilty to mail fraud in connection with stealing $573,000 from St. Thomas More Parish in Troy was sentenced Tuesday to 27 months in prison.

The sentence for Rev. Ed Belczak, handed down by U.S. District Judge Arthur J. Tarnow, was below sentencing guidelines and federal prosecutors’ request.

Before the sentencing, Belczak, 70, said he accepted full responsibility for his actions at St. Thomas More Parish where he was pastor for nearly 30 years.

Source

A federal judge sentenced two Staten Island men Tuesday in what authorities said was one of the largest credit card fraud schemes ever prosecuted by the federal government.

U.S. District Judge Anne E. Thompson sentenced Khawaja Ikram, 43, and Mohammad Khan, 51, to 24 and 12 months in prison, respectively, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Trenton.

Ikram previously pleaded guilty to an information charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and Khan had pleaded guilty to an information charging him with conspiracy to defraud the United States.

Source