Recent Posts in White Collar Crimes Category

In Phoenix, police say that the leader of a human-smuggling operation was sentenced with seven years imprisonment last week.  Attorney General Terry Goddard announced that 28 year old Rosalio Palacios, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, was sentenced on Friday.

In addition to having to serve time in prison, Palacios was also ordered to pay a $46,000 fine.  Palacios pled guilty to felony charges of:  participating in a criminal syndicate, illegal control of an enterprise, human smuggling, illegal use of a wire/electronic communication, and fraudulent schemes and practices.

According to reports, Palacios was the ring leader of a crime ring that engaged in human smuggling.  The organization managed to smuggle thousands of illegal immigrants into Phoenix from Mexico.  The immigrants were then sent to drop houses for $1,800 per person.

If you have been charged with serious felonies or white collar crimes in Phoenix, now is the time to contact the Knowles Law Firm and get help from a Phoenix criminal defense lawyer.

On Tuesday, a Towson title agency officer was indicted for charges of mortgage fraud.  According to authorities, 45 year old Anthony Weis of Phoenix ran a scheme that led to him accumulating $3.4 million.

Weis was charged with 16 counts of fraud and if he is convicted he will face a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.  He will also face a $1 million fine for each of the counts.

Police say that while Weis was the president of Maple Leaf Title, he convinced lender to wire funding for real estate closings.  In return, the company was supposed to use the funds to pay mortgage holders.  Instead of making payments, Weis transferred $3.4 million out of the Maple Leaf escrow account and used it for his own personal needs.

Property owners then received notices that they were late on their payments from the entities holding mortgages or liens on their properties.  However, the notices took several months before sellers were alerted.  During the time lag, police say that Wies was able to replenish the funds in the escrow account with new real estate settlements.

Were you charged with a white collar crime, like fraud?  If you answered "yes", get the legal representation you need to fight your charges by hiring a Phoenix criminal defense lawyer from the Knowles Law Firm.  Contact our legal team now!

Police in Phoenix are happy to report that after a seven month long investigation, they were able to arrest seven men who were acting as a criminal syndicate.

Officers arrested 21-year-old Calvin Howard, 20-year-old Darmon Lee, 23-year-old Christopher Roy, 20-year-old Tony Blue, 25-year-old Darnell Lemons, 21-year-old Tymothy McCrun and 21-year-old Stevvan Loai after grueling investigative work. 

According to the police, the seven men defrauded several local banks and bank customers through a "check kiting" scheme.  In order to get the scheme to work, the men recruited numerous Arizona State University students to participate.  The participants would then open bank accounts and cash checks.  These checks would then go toward paying the party crew, who managed to steal $55,000.

Later, police discovered that over 50% of the checks given to the students were stolen or forged by members of the syndicate.  The seven men were also involved in other felony and misdemeanor offenses throughout Scottsdale, Mesa and Chandler.

Charged with fraud in Phoenix?  Now is the time to consult with a Phoenix criminal defense lawyer by contacting our law office.

Last week a federal judge sentenced a man to 17 years in prison for his involvement in a $9.5 million mortgage fraud scheme.

According to Phoenix authorities, 51-year-old Mario G. Bernadel of Haiti led a scheme for a year and a half in which he would purchase multiple properties—37 to be exact—with fraudulent loan documents. When the properties would close he would receive cash back. 

Bernadel was convicted of 19 counts of mortgage fraud, including mail fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud, and money laundering.

Also charged in connection with the scheme were seven co-conspirators, each of whom pleaded guilty.

An Ahwatukee Foothills woman accused of embezzlement struck a plea deal that will spare her from going to jail.

Laurie Bassett was charged with embezzling money from Dobson Academy, the Chandler charter school where she worked as the finance manager.  On January 22 she pleaded guilty and was placed on supervised probation. She was also ordered to repay the $20,233 she stole from the school.

Police say Laurie created fake invoices for janitorial supplies and wrote checks to herself and her husband for the amount listed on the invoice. When the checks returned to the school, she would "white out" their names and replace them with names of janitorial vendors.

Bassett’s husband, James Bassett, was also arrested for allegedly cashing over $11,000 in fraudulent checks.  He turned himself in around the time his wife pleaded guilty. He claims he took the money because he lost money on an irrigation job he did for the school, and that this was his way of recouping the money he lost after the school refused to work out a deal with him.

The school caught on to the scheme after an audit revealed a 300 percent increase in janitorial supply purchases.