DEARBORN – Radwan Khazaal (46), of Dearborn was arraigned Monday, Feb. 11 in U.S. District Court in Detroit on a one-count indictment for conspiracy to commit bank fraud.  Magistrate Judge Mark Randon ordered the release of Khazaal on a $10,000 unsecured bond with conditions including that he does not act as a fiduciary for a bank or a title company.  

According to the indictment in this case, the charges stem from a real estate transaction that occurred in 2007 and was closed by the defendant as a title agent at American Premiere Title Agency in Dearborn Heights. 

The sale involved a property on Beck Road in Novi that was sold to a straw buyer for $3,250,000 using a fraudulently obtained mortgage from Washington Mutual (WaMu). 

According to the indictment, false information about the borrower was provided to WaMu to induce them to fund the transaction.  

The Settlement Statement (HUD-1), prepared by American Premier Title Agency and included in the closing documents, showed that the sale price was $3,250,000 with a $2,437,500 mortgage loan and a down payment of $726,326.91 to be paid from the straw buyer to the seller. 

According to the indictment, that down payment, required by WaMu was never paid.  Instead, a copy of a blank check drawn on the buyer’s account was obtained from him and filled out by others during the closing.  It was then knowingly inserted in the closing package by defendant Khazaal, the closing agent, as proof of down payment and sent to the lender.  Four other defendants have been charged in this case, and two of them already pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court.