SEATTLE — A grand jury has returned a 40-count indictment against seven people accused of running a multimillion dollar mortgage fraud scheme in Seattle’s suburbs.
Those charged include the operators of Kobay Financial Corp., Nationwide Home Lending and Emerald City Escrow, all of Bellevue. The indictment says they used straw buyers or other unqualified buyers with vastly overstated incomes to artificially inflate home values and acquire more than $46 million in mortgages from ING and Washington Mutual banks, among others.
Nationwide, which is not affiliated with Nationwide Lending Corp. or Nationwide Mutual Insurance, closed last fall.
The indictment alleges the defendants took $9 million for themselves, using the money to buy luxury cars and boats, among other things. The straw buyers were paid for their participation.
The charges include conspiracy, as well as bank, mail and wire fraud.
Defendants are Vladislav Baydovskiy and Viktor Kobzar, who ran Kobay, and their employee Camie Byron; Alla Sobol, who ran Nationwide; David Sobol and Donata Baydovskiy, who ran Emerald City; and Sandra Thorpe, a bookkeeper who allegedly prepared false letters verifying employment for buyers.
Six of the defendants were arrested today and were scheduled to make initial appearances in U.S. District Court later in the day. Prosecutors said they interviewed Thorpe and determined they did not need to arrest her, and that she will be arraigned April 9.
U.S. Attorney Jeffrey C. Sullivan said 50 federal agents armed with search warrants raided the offices of the businesses, hoping to collect documents and information that might give them a better understanding of the alleged fraud. The agents rushed to make the arrests, Sullivan said, because they realized the activity was ongoing and they worried the defendants might flee or transfer assets following a federal racketeering suit brought by ING against Nationwide and Emerald City earlier this month.
“Some of this could be prevented by banks doing a little more due diligence,” Sullivan said. “Nobody was doing that.”
In the ING lawsuit, criminal defense lawyer Jacob A. Korn, an officer of Emerald City, and Alla Sobol are identified as the leading conspirators and accused of taking excessive fees. Korn is not charged in the indictment, but is referenced by his initials.
Leslie Drake, a Kirkland lawyer who represents the Sobols, did not immediately return a call seeking comment today. It was not immediately clear if the others had obtained lawyers.
Prosecutors are seeking to have the defendants forfeit luxury cars, including two Lamborghinis; a 32-foot Bayliner boat; and millions of dollars.
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