Judge rules witness no expert in mortgage fraud case

The same day several jurors called an expert defense witness in a massive mortgage fraud trial incompetent, the federal judge in the case barred the man from ever testifying as an expert in his courtroom again.

“The court just concluded a jury trial in the above matter at which it permitted purported expert testimony from one Curtis Novy, who proclaimed himself to be an expert on mortgage fraud,” wrote Senior U.S. District Judge Roger Hunt in an order filed late Thursday. “This U.S. district judge finds him unqualified to testify as an expert on mortgage fraud and will not permit him to so testify as such in any future trial or hearing.”

At trial, Novy appeared to avoid giving direct answers to questions, including queries about his fees, jurors said.

Hunt in his order also forbade Novy from using the fact that he was permitted to testify here “on any resume or website, or in testimony hereafter in support of his qualifications to testify as an expert.”

The case involved former mortgage and real estate professionals Steve Grimm, 48, Eve Mozzarella, 34, and Melissa Beecroft, 32. Jurors found them guilty of each charge they faced at trial, which began almost 10 weeks earlier.

From 2003 to 2008, scores of straw buyers were used to obtain $107 million in fraudulent home loans. The scheme was uncovered after two of Grimm’s employees met with the FBI.

Grimm was convicted of 13 counts related to bank, mail and wire fraud. Mazzarella was found guilty of 11 counts of bank, mail and wire fraud and Beecroft of five mail and wire fraud charges. Each defendant also was found guilty of conspiracy.

The charges are felonies, and the defendants might face federal prison time and heavy fines when Hunt sentences them March 23.

After the verdict Thursday, several jurors said Novy’s three days of testimony did more to harm the defendants than any witness the government produced.

They described Novy as the “king of idiots” and “the joke of the whole trial.”

Novy, 54, said his counsel is filing an appeal of Hunt’s order.

” Judge Hunt has not considered all factors related to my expertise in mortgage fraud, real estate lending, and sub-prime lending, a career that exceeds 25 years,” Novy said in a statement. “In the past four years, my firm has been retained on approximately 140 civil and criminal cases nationwide .”

Novy also said prosecutors had limited the scope of his testimony during the trial.

“My firm is regularly contacted by government agencies, such as state and local prosecutors and the FBI who seek guidance in understanding complex mortgage fraud,” Novy said.

His website, www.mortgagefraudexpert.com, lists offices in Las Vegas, Denver and Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., New York City and Hawaii.