Prakashumar "Kash" Bhakta was sentenced for operating a mortgage fraud scheme throughout Southern California and the Inland Empire that preyed on homeowners facing foreclosure, Xavier Becerra, attorney general for California announced.

[caption id="attachment_9983" align="alignleft" width="244"] Xavier Becerra[/caption]

Bhakta was sentenced to seven years and eight months in state prison. Restitution will be ordered in the amount of $256,000. Co-defendants Jacob Orona, Aide Orona, John Contreras, Marcus Robinson, and David Boyd had already pled guilty. They were sentenced to state prison terms ranging from four years to seven years and four months.

“We have zero tolerance for scam artists who cheat vulnerable families by stealing their life savings and shattering their dreams of owning a home,” said Attorney General Becerra. “Today’s sentence should serve as a reminder: If you prey on hardworking Americans and betray their trust, my office will hold you accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”

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The fraud scheme stretched through San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Los Angeles counties. Defendants convinced distressed homeowners that they could provide legal assistance to help save their home. They persuaded victims to pay them $3,500 to start; then $1,000 monthly; and separate fees for filing legal documents.

Defendants filed and recorded numerous fraudulent documents, including false bankruptcies and false-court filings. The scam defrauded lenders and other owners of their rightful possession of the residential properties.

Meanwhile, the defendants took thousands of dollars from homeowner victims to perform fraudulent services. Bhakta, who was an integral part of the scheme, falsely notarized numerous fractional interest grant deeds without the presence of the person whose signature was being notarized.

Bhakta, the last defendant to admit fault, pled guilty on Nov. 28, 2018, to 113 felony charges, including conspiracy, grand theft, and filing false or forged documents.

The guilty pleas and sentences result from a joint investigation by the California Department of Justice, Fraud and Special Prosecutions Section; the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Office of the Inspector General; and the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office.

American Financial Network Inc. has migrated to an automated platform to manage and track commissions for loan officers. Until now, the staff accountant manually calculated and tracked commissions using a spreadsheet. Loan originators couldn’t track their commissions until they received their checks.

American Financial implemented CompenSafe from LBA Ware to increase efficiency and provide loan officers and their managers with real-time commission information as soon as loans are funded. Also, the accountants’ administrative workload was reduced enough, to enable AFN to make weekly payments rather than twice a month without any increase in payroll staff.

[caption id="attachment_9819" align="alignleft" width="218"] John Sherman[/caption]

“The platform gives LOs a real-time view into their compensation and enables us to pay out commissions on a weekly basis, inspiring confidence in the financial well-being of our company,” said John Sherman, president of AFN. “What’s more, by automating work that used to be done manually, CompenSafe saves our accounting staff time and decreases the frequency of compensation disputes and corrections.” American Financial has over 125 branches nationwide.

“In a tough market, lenders are looking for innovative ways to promote growth and maximize their production,” said Lori Brewer, LBA Ware Founder and CEO. “CompenSafe’s unique value lies in its ability to eliminate back-office inefficiency while at the same time providing originators greater insight into their performance and earnings.”

LendKey, a lending platform that offers home equity loans and other products, has originated over $2.6 billion in loans in 2018 working with lenders. LendKey's turnkey solution provides banks and credit unions with a state-of-the-art platform to offer digital loans.

"Reaching the $2.6 billion milestone is a validation of LendKey's position as a trusted partner for financial institutions to expand their digital lending offerings and grow revenue and their asset portfolios," said Vince Passione, CEO and founder of LendKey.

Also, America First Credit Union, one of the nation's largest credit unions serving over one million members, has become a lending partners, one of 18 new lenders who started using the LendKey platform last year.

"Our partnership with LendKey is a testament to our commitment to provide our members with a seamless digital borrowing experience and the loans they need," said Rich Syme, Executive Vice President of America First Credit Union. "We value this new partnership and look forward to expanding our portfolio with a recognized industry leader in digital lending solutions."

Highlights for 2018 included record loan origination volume for LendKey's lending partners include a 26% increase in revenue. An appetite for automation has led banks and credit unions to offer a digital lending experience to consumers.

Planet Home Lending LLC, a national lender and servicer, opened 26 retail branches, expanded into other channels and brought on 165 mortgage loan originators in 2018.

Also, it increased the private client sub-servicing portfolio by 300 percent and the correspondent division expanded its client base by 40 percent, according to the company. The renovation division expanded to serve nine states and added a new loan origination system, and the retail channel opened a new office in Mt. Laurel, N.J, and the company rolled out 66 loan programs and products.

To support the new branches, Planet added the Surefire CRM and launched Skymore, a personal digital mortgage assistant. In addition, working with the National Forest Foundation Planet will donate three trees for every loan that was closed in 2019.

"We have taken a very deliberate approach to how we conduct business and how we want to grow our business," said Michael Dubeck, CEO and president of Planet. "The industry continues to fluctuate based on rates; however, we are proving that it is possible to be stable and provide consistency to your clients through offering a variety of loan products."