Brothers Plead Guilty to Million Dollar Mortgage Fraud Conspiracy

(Alexandria, Virginia) - Mohammed Rababeh, 29, of Vienna, Virginia, and Ahmed Rababeh, 31, of Haymarket, Virginia, pled guilty today to conspiring to commit bank fraud in connection with several real estate mortgage loans they and their co-conspirators obtained between April 2004 and September 2006. Chuck Rosenberg, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Joseph Persichini, Jr., Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Washington Field Office; and, Andre Martin, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, made the announcement. Sentencing for both Mohammed and Ahmed Rababeh has been set for November 28, 2008 before United States District Judge Claude M. Hilton.

According to court records, the two men conspired with Randolph Baltimore, 50, of Leesburg, Virginia, to submit fraudulent loan applications overstating Baltimore's income and omitting his liabilities, so that Baltimore could purchase properties Mohammed and Ahmed Rababeh wanted to sell. The two men agreed to pay Baltimore $27,500 to serve as the buyer on four such properties. Mohammed and Ahmed Rababeh engaged in similar fraudulent schemes to obtain loans to buy properties in their own names. Mohammad Rababeh obtained more than $2 million in such loans, and the losses to the lenders could be as much as $1 million.

Baltimore pled guilty to the conspiracy on June 24, 2008, and will be sentenced by Judge Hilton on September 26, 2008.

The cases were investigated the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation. Assistant United States Attorneys James P. Gillis and Aaron M. Zebley are prosecuting these cases on behalf of the United States.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/vae. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.uspci.uscourts.gov.

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