Governor Blagojevich’s Mortgage Fraud Task Force takes action against massive mortgage fraud ring

CHICAGO – Governor Rod R. Blagojevich today announced that his administration is shutting down a mortgage company that issued more than $6.6 million in mortgages to homebuyers, based on misrepresentations of the buyers’ employment and inflated income data.  The company that wrote these loans, First Chicago Mortgage Company, has had its residential mortgage license revoked.  Six of the company’s loan originators and the owner of the firm, Rony Khezeran, have also had their licenses revoked.  At least six of the loans are currently in foreclosure and one other loan is near foreclosure.  The Mortgage Fraud Task Force is working with local and federal law enforcement agencies to investigate possible criminal charges against Khezeran, the owner of First Chicago Mortgage Company.  

Earlier this year, one of the homeowners who received a mortgage from First Chicago attended a Governor’s Homeowner Outreach Day event seeking help to keep his property from going into foreclosure. During his session, he told the fraud investigator assigned to the event that he had obtained a mortgage without giving the lender information about his employment or income.  He later noticed that the mortgage loan documents listed a phony employer and reported a vastly inflated income.  

The homeowner’s concerns prompted the Mortgage Fraud Task Force to examine the business practices of the lender.  After a thorough investigation, the Task Force found other loans that fit the same pattern of highly inflated incomes and employers later found not to have employed the prospective borrower. 

“Too many homeowners are faced with foreclosure, and when a family loses their home as a result of fraud, it is particularly troubling,” said Governor Blagojevich. “The Mortgage Fraud Task Force has been working hard to reduce incidents of fraud and make sure that state licensed lenders live up to the high standards Illinois families deserve.”

Investigators looking at the loan files of First Chicago Mortgage Company found that 14 loans showed applications stating that the borrower worked for Advanced Auto Repair (as either a primary or secondary employer) and each application accordingly misrepresented at inflated levels each borrowers’ income.  The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) confirmed through the representatives of Advanced Auto Repair that none of the borrowers ever worked for Advanced Auto Repair.  Despite this fact, several of the loan files contained Verification of Employment forms identifying Advance Auto Repair.  The majority of these borrowers did not know or did not understand that their applications contained the misrepresentations pertaining to Advance Auto Repair. 

The applications for six other loans also contained misrepresentations regarding the borrowers’ employer and income.  The applications misrepresented that each borrower worked for Prestige International Corporation (as either a primary or secondary employer) and each application accordingly misrepresented at inflated levels each borrowers’ income.  IDFPR confirmed that three of the five borrowers did not work for Prestige International Corporation.  One of the borrowers was the relative of the Mr. Khezeran, President of First Chicago.  Another confirmed that the loan file contained 5 documents with forgeries of the borrower’s signature.  The Secretary of State records show that the Mr. Khezeran is also the registered as the president of Prestige International Corporation.    

As a result of the investigation, the IDFPR today filed orders revoking seven licenses, imposing $220,000 in fines against First Chicago and fining each of the loan originators $10,000 for their violations.  IDFPR is also reviewing Mr. Khezeran’s real estate license to determine if there have been violations at that business as well.

Orders were issued against the licenses of:

First Chicago Mortgage Company
Rony Khezeran
Madelen Lachin
Peter Oyegun
Evelyn D. Sy
Rana Temanios
Salem Gorail
Indiana Gallardo
Odisho Kena