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Guilty Plea In Mortgage Fraud Case

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By DAVE SIMANOFF, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 6, 2007

Updated: 11/05/2007 09:55 pm

TAMPA - The Florida attorney general's office said Monday that a Hillsborough County man, arrested this year and charged with running a mortgage fraud scheme, has pleaded guilty to several fraud charges and will be sentenced next month.

The office said Michael Danish was arrested in February after state investigators said he had taken advantage of more than 20 people who sought to refinance their homes in order to buy new air-conditioning systems.

According to the investigators, Danish would frequently take out larger mortgages than the homeowners requested. He also would take out loans without the homeowners' knowledge, and collect third-party checks and keep the money for himself. He obtained $400,000 from his victims.

The attorney general's office said Danish pleaded guilty to aggravated white-collar crime, failure to disburse funds in accordance with agreements and notary fraud. He will be sentenced Dec. 7. Sandi Copes, press secretary for Attorney General Bill McCollum, said the maximum sentence Danish could receive is 65 years in prison.

Danish, reached on his cell phone Monday afternoon, referred all questions to his attorney at the Hillsborough public defender's office. A call left with the attorney was not returned before deadline.

Copes said people concerned about mortgage fraud should visit the consumer protection area of the Federal Trade Commission Web site, ftc.gov.

An accomplice, Donna Whitlock, pleaded guilty to one count of notary fraud this year. She owns Bay Pointe Title in Tampa, and notarized Danish's mortgage documents without the homeowners there. She also will be sentenced Dec. 7, the attorney general's office said.

Reporter Dave Simanoff can be reached at dsimanoff@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7762.

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