Redwood Trust Investors:
Here are the official instructions for obtaining restitution. If you already submitted documentation supporting your investment in Redwood Trust's Mortgage and Blessings programs, including: cancelled checks, money order receipts, agreements, etc., see the red underlined sentence in Section III 2 below.
US Department of Justice Victim Notification System
U.S. Department of Justice
United States Attorney's Office
Northern District of New York in Albany
James Foley Bldg.
445 Broadway, Rm. 218
Albany, NY 12207
Phone: (518) 431-0247
Fax: (518) 431-0249
RE: United States v. Defendant(s)
Case Number 2004R00747 and Court Docket Number 05-CR-0337
United States v. Kenneth G. Titus, Sr.
05 Cr. 337 (NAM)
United States v. $2,300,577.10 in U.S. Currency, et al
Information for Redwood Trust Investors
This letter is written for the benefit of those persons who invested in
Redwood Trust. The letter will: 1) explain the status of the criminal and
civil cases; and 2) outline the forfeiture, restitution and sentencing
processes.
I. The Status of the Criminal and Civil Forfeiture Cases.
The first case referenced above, United States v. Kenneth G. Titus, Sr.,
is a federal criminal case against Kenneth G. Titus, Sr. As you are aware,
the indictment charged mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering.
Following an application by the defense, the Court held a competency hearing
to determine whether Kenneth G. Titus, Sr. was competent to stand trial. On
October 13, 2006, the Court found him competent. That same day, Kenneth G.
Titus, Sr. pled guilty to mail fraud and money laundering.
The defendant remains in federal custody pending sentence; sentencing is
currently scheduled for February 27, 2007, at 10:00 a.m. in Syracuse, New
York. Everyone who invested in the Redwood Trust Mortgage or Blessings
program is eligible to complete a Victim Impact Statement and permitted to
speak at sentencing. If you elect to complete a Victim Impact Statement, it
must be submitted to the United States Attorney's Office at the Albany
address referenced below no later than January 15, 2007. You may access a
standard Victim Impact Statement form and an explanation of what is a Victim
Impact Statement on the VNS website as well as on the district website.
As part of his plea, Kenneth G. Titus, Sr. agreed to forfeit the following
property, which will be used for restitution to investors:
a. $2,300,577.10 in United States Currency from Evergreen Bank Account
No.: XXXX0835;
b. $124,283.08 in United States Currency from Pioneer Savings Bank
Account No.: XXXX2965;
c. $1,002.70 in United States Currency from Bank of America Account No.:
XXXX2705;
d. $3,000.00 in United States Currency from Official Check No.: XX0907,
from the Bank of Illinois Service Federal Savings and Loan Association of
Chicago, currently held in the bank's internal Daily Investment Deposit
Account;
e. $20,000.00 in United States Currency from Teller's Check No.: XX7213
from Pioneer Savings Bank, located in their Official Checks Account;
f. 49 Miscellaneous uncashed, Personal, Official, Cashier's and
Treasurer's checks made payable to Redwood Trust;
g. 3 Uncashed Money Orders made payable to Redwood Trust; and
h. 1 Uncashed Bank Money Order made payable to Redwood Trust in the
amount of $2,000.00 U.S.
The government will obtain a Preliminary Order of Forfeiture from the
Court. The preliminary order will forfeit Kenneth G. Titus, Sr.'s interest
and Redwood Trust's interest in the above property. The preliminary order
becomes final when the defendant is sentenced. The forfeited funds will be
used to pay restitution to Redwood Trust investors.
The government will also obtain a Restitution Order from the Court. The
Restitution Order will require Kenneth G. Titus, Sr. to pay each Redwood
Trust investor the amount of money a given investor paid to Redwood Trust's
Mortgage or Blessings programs. The Court will issue the Restitution Order
when Kenneth G. Titus, Sr. is sentenced. All forfeited funds will be paid
to Redwood Trust investors pursuant to the Restitution Order, and will be
disbursed to Redwood Trust investors approximately eight (8) weeks following
sentencing. To the extent that Redwood Trust received more than $4 million
from investors and expended more than $1 million in various expenses, there
will be insufficient forfeiture funds available to give each Redwood Trust
investor 100 percent of what he or she paid to the Mortgage or Blessings
programs. All forfeited funds, however, will be distributed to Redwood
Trust investors pursuant to the Restitution Order based on the number of
confirmed investors. Kenneth G. Titus, Sr. will be required to pay Redwood
Trust investors any remaining restitution balance to the extent that there
are insufficient forfeiture funds to fully cover the Restitution Order.
The second case referenced above is a civil forfeiture case entitled
United States v. $2,300,577.10 in U.S. Currency, et al. The Complaint seeks
to forfeit funds seized from Redwood Trust and Kenneth Titus, Sr., on the
theory that those funds constitute fraud proceeds. The government seeks to
forfeit those assets so that they can be used for restitution to Redwood
investors. This case is currently pending and will be resolved as part of
the forfeiture in the criminal case.
II. Contact Information to Monitor the Status of the Cases.
Updates regarding the criminal and civil forfeiture cases will be posted
to the following websites:
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/nyn and
www.Notify.USDOJ.Gov, the Victims Notification System (VNS) website. In
order to access the VNS website, you should have received a letter
containing a Victim Information Number (VIN) and a Personal Identification
Number (PIN) from the U.S. Postal Service.
If you did not receive a letter or you no longer have the letter from the
postal service you may contact our Victim Witness Coordinator, Rachel Seeber
or her assistant Vanessa Gambelunghe at 1-888-539-4535, 1-518-431-0247, or
by e-mail at
vanessa.gambelunghe@usdoj.gov. The VNS allows victims to
set-up a notification email account within the VNS system. After you have
provided the VNS system with an email address you will automatically be sent
email notifications of ongoing Court events that victims are entitled to be
aware of and/or may attend.
Due to the high volume of calls and e-mails our victim witness unit
receives, please allow 5-7 days for a response. Finally, in the interest of
time, answers to frequently asked questions will be posted to the above
websites.
III. Procedures for Obtaining Restitution.
As mentioned above, the Preliminary Order of Forfeiture will become final
at sentencing, the government will obtain a Restitution Order at sentencing,
and the forfeited funds will be disbursed to Redwood Trust investors
following sentencing pursuant to the Court's Restitution Order.
It is very important to the United States Attorney's Office that all
Redwood Trust investors be identified so that they will be eligible to
receive restitution. Thus, this Office has worked, and will continue to
work, to identify all Redwood Trust investors and the dollar amounts those
investors contributed to Redwood Trust's Mortgage and Blessings programs.
To the extent that a Redwood Trust investor has not already done so, it is
imperative that he or she provide information and documentation so that all
Redwood Trust investors may be included in the Restitution Order. To that
end, the government requests that you provide:
1. Documentation: Please provide documentation supporting your
investment in Redwood Trust's Mortgage and Blessings programs, including:
cancelled checks, money order receipts, agreements, etc.
2. Contact Information: Please provide your name, address, telephone
number and e-mail address. The government intends to advise Redwood Trust
investors of the status of the proceedings. Current contact information,
including an e-mail address, is critical to that goal.
Please provide the above information to: United States Attorney's Office,
Northern District of New York, 445 Broadway, Albany, New York, 12207, Attn:
Redwood Trust, T. Capezza, Assistant U.S. Attorney. If you have already
provided the above information or documentation for either the criminal or
civil case, you need NOT provide that information or documentation again.
You may obtain current information about this case on the VNS Web
site at
https://www.notify.usdoj.gov or from the VNS Call Center at
1-866-DOJ-4YOU (1-866-365-4968) (TDD/TTY: 1-866-228-4619) (International:
1-502-213-2767). In addition, you may use the Call Center or Internet to
update your contact information and/or change your decision about
participation in the notification program. If you update your information
to include a current email address, VNS will send information to that
address.
You will use your Victim Identification Number (VIN) 1013477 and Personal
Identification Number (PIN) 5216 anytime you contact the Call Center and the
first time you log on to the VNS web site. In addition, the first time you
access the VNS Internet site, you will be prompted to enter your last name
(or business name) as currently contained in VNS.
Sincerely,
Glenn T. Suddaby
United States Attorney
Vanessa Gambelunghe
Victim Witness Assistant
