July 19, 2016 Source
A Guyanese man Ravindranauth `Ravi’ Roopnarine was on Thursday jailed in a Florida, USA court for just for 21 years following conviction in a US$50m mortgage fraud scam.
He also has to make restitution of just over US$9m for the Florida real estate fraud.
In March this year, Roopnarine was found guilty in US District Court of wire fraud, mail fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud.
On Thursday, Judge Jose E Martinez sentenced Roopnarine, 56, to 262 months of jail on the three counts. The sentences will run concurrently, according to court documents seen by Stabroek News. The US had sought a maximum of 327 months. The court also set out how restitution should be made.
Roopnarine was one of four people named in a 2010 indictment for a US$50 million fraud scheme spanning more than 150 residential real estate properties in Vero Lake Estates, Orlando, and Miami-Dade and Orange counties.
Roopnarine was the last co-defendant to be convicted. According to court documents and testimony, he recruited and led his co-conspirators in a widespread mortgage fraud scheme.
Roopnarine, along with Kamla Seecharan and her husband, Deo Seecharan, conspired to solicit mainly Guyanese residents of Florida and other states to act as straw buyers on fraudulent mortgage loan applications, the TCPalm had reported online.
The Seecharans and Linda Rovetto previously pleaded guilty. About 80 people served as straw buyers of properties in Vero Lake Estates and other developments, the report said. The scheme resulted in more than US$50 million in fraudulent mortgage loans.
The co-conspirators then used the proceeds to purchase additional properties, fund pre-existing fraudulent mortgage loans, and pay kickbacks to the straw buyers, testimony and evidence showed.
In addition, Kamla Seecharan and Rovetto unlawfully diverted more than US$3.5 million in mortgage loans from real estate closing escrow accounts to Raviworld New Homes Inc., a company managed by Roopnarine and Deo Seecharan.
Kamla Seecharan, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud, was sentenced to 10 years and one month in prison and ordered to pay more than US$2 million in restitution, the TCPalm reported.
Deo Seecharan and Rovetto each pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to commit bank fraud involving US$3.5 million in diverted real estate escrow funds.
Martinez sentenced Deo Seecharan to five years in prison and ordered him to pay more than US$9 million in restitution.
Rovetto was sentenced to 3½ years in prison, the report said.
Roopnarine was extradited to the US from Trinidad and Tobago in January, 2015 following a US request, according to a release from the Office of the T&T Attorney General.
