5 More Metro Residents Jailed in Straw Buyer Scheme

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DETROIT, MI – Five people who recruited phony “straw buyers” to buy homes and submit fraudulent mortgage applications were sentenced to prison this week for their roles in a multi-year, multi-million-dollar mortgage fraud conspiracy, officials said.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Caroline D. Ciraolo of the Justice Department’s Tax Division said that from January 2006 and December 2008, the perpetrators of the scheme purchased single-family homes in Detroit for approximately $5,000 to $40,000 each and re-sold the homes to third-party individuals, referred to as “straw buyers,” that they recruited to go along with the scheme.

The co-conspirators then submitted fraudulent mortgage loan applications in the names of the straw buyers to financial institutions.

On July 16, 2014, a grand jury returned a superseding indictment charging seven defendants with conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, aiding and assisting in the filing of false tax returns and bankruptcy fraud. All of the defendants named in the superseding indictment pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud for their role in the scheme.

Sentenced this week by U.S. District Judge Bernard A. Friedman of the Eastern District of Michigan were:

• Jason Najor, 39, of West Bloomfield Township, was sentenced to 16 months in prison, followed by four years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution to the affected financial institutions in the amount of $705,900.
• Jeffrey Najor, 32, of Wixom, was sentenced to 24 months in prison, followed by four years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution to the affected financial institutions in the amount of $1,707,200.
• Suhail Hallak, 59, of Oak Park, was sentenced to 15 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution to the affected financial institutions in the amount of $759,804.
• Joey Murad, 37, of Shelby Township, was sentenced to 33 months in prison, followed by four years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution to the affected financial institutions in the amount of $188,904.
• Al Karana, 46, of Sterling Heights, was sentenced to one day in jail, followed by three years of supervised release to include one year of home confinement, and ordered to pay restitution to the affected financial institutions in the amount of $204,600.

Two of the defendants named in the superseding indictment were previously sentenced to prison. In January 2015, Wasseem Shamoun, 50, of Northville, was sentenced to 15 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution to the in the amount of $394,000, following his plea of guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud.

In addition to the seven defendants named in the superseding indictment, two other individuals connected to the scheme have pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison.

In September 2015, Mary Ann Paschal, who served as a straw buyer for multiple properties and received substantial fees for her participation, was sentenced to one year and one day in prison and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $523,750.

Also in September 2015, Shawn Alexander Reed, a mortgage broker who assisted in the preparation of false mortgage loan applications, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 15 months in prison.