Bondi: Couple Guilty in Mortgage Fraud Scheme Plead to Cooperate

A Tampa couple has pleaded guilty to their involvement in an $8.8 million mortgage fraud scheme, the attorney general's office announced.

David Barile, 44, and Melissa D. Barile, 35, were among five arrested in April for their involvement in 50 fraudulent mortgage applications involving 33 properties in Pinellas, Pasco, Hillsborough, Hernando, Osceola, Seminole and Orange counties.

In agreeing to plea before Circuit Court Judge Keith Meyer in Pinellas County on Wednesday, the Bariles will cooperate against the other defendants, the attorney generals office stated.

The couple did not receive a sentence at the hearing.

Mortgage fraud exacerbates the distressed housing market and hurts responsible homeowners, Attorney General Pam Bondi stated in a release. We are continuing to prosecute the others involved in this criminal mortgage fraud ring, and we thank the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Hillsborough County Consumer Protection Agency for their commitment to investigating these crimes.

In the scheme the Bariles pled to, which occurred from 2003 to 2007, false residential mortgage loan applications and associated documents were prepared for residential mortgage loan lenders.Ultimately, the lenders approved the residential loan applications and funded 50 mortgage loan applications totaling approximately $8.8 million.

Of the properties involved, 22 were the subject of foreclosure proceedings which resulted in over $3 million in final judgments.

Others arrested in April in the scheme were:

-- Eric Rivero, of Tampa, charged with one count of racketeering, and one count of conspiracy to commit racketeering, and received a $600,000 bond.

-- Craig Hudson, 39, of Tampa, charged with one count of racketeering, one count of conspiracy to commit racketeering, and one count of grand theft, and received a $700,000 bond.

-- Lynne B. Hudson, 34, of Tampa, charged with one count of racketeering, and one of count conspiracy to commit racketeering, and received a $600,000 bond.

"Considering the amount of work by the investigative team and the overall strength of this case, it does not surprise me the Bariles decided to plea, Chief Investigator Kevin Jackson, Hillsborough County Consumer Protection Agency, stated in the same release. "All the defendants in this case certainly contributed in their own way to the ongoing problem consumers commonly know as the housing and mortgage crisis. I'm hopeful each of them will pay for their involvement in the scheme."

The investigation into this scheme was a collaborative effort among the attorney generals Office of Statewide Prosecution, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Hillsborough County Consumer Protection Agency.