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Ex-Argent Manager Gets 9 Years For Mortgage Fraud

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By SHANNON BEHNKEN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 10, 2008

TAMPA - A former employee for a subsidiary of one of the nation's largest subprime lenders has been sentenced to nine years in prison for a mortgage fraud scheme that spanned four counties in the Bay area, the Florida attorney general's office said today.

Samuel Green, a former manager for New York-based Argent Mortgage Co., was part of a two-year scheme that involved bad loans in Hillsborough, Lee, Pinellas and Polk counties, the attorney general's office said.

Green and five co-defendants, including former Vice President Orson Benn and mortgage broker Scott Almeida, were prosecuted by the attorney general's Office of Statewide Prosecution.

Almeida and his associates secured mortgages for homeowners to finance home repairs by submitting fraudulent documents to Argent Mortgage Co., prosecutors said. Green, as a manager for Argent, approved or oversaw the approval of some of the fraudulent loan applications. Nearly 130 fraudulent loans valued at $13 million were submitted to Argent, prosecutors said.

Green was charged with racketeering and conspiracy to commit racketeering. He was found guilty Aug. 28.

It took three years to complete the investigation, which began when victims filed complaints about incomplete or substandard construction work being performed by construction companies affiliated with the group.

The joint investigation was conducted by the Office of Statewide Prosecution, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Hillsborough County Consumer Protection Agency, the Tampa Police Department and the Pinellas County Department of Justice.

Almeida pleaded guilty in October 2007 and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Benn was convicted by a jury in July and was sentenced in September to 18 years in prison.

Co-defendant Bradford Peck pleaded guilty and was sentenced to eight years in prison.

Co-defendants Frank Giffone and Adrienne White pleaded guilty, and both were sentenced to five years in prison.

Reporter Shannon Behnken can be reached at (813) 259-7804.

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