usdoj.gov | 11/25/08 | $1 million | suspect: Fred Stevens | victim: Indymac Bank
Fred Stevens was a mortgage broker in Westport, Connecticut. Working with property developers, lawyers, "hard money" lenders, an appraiser, employees of financial institutions and others, Stevens submitted fraudulent mortgage applications with IndyMac Bank and other financial institutions to secure mortgages for certain clients.
STEVENS earned a fee for the fraudulent mortgage applications that he submitted on his clients' behalf.
The charge to which STEVENS pleaded guilty relates to a fraudulent mortgage application package submitted to IndyMac Bank, a federally insured bank, related to a property located at 35 Prospect Road in Westport. The mortgage application package contained numerous false pretenses and representations, including that it falsely inflated the borrower's income; falsely claimed the property was owner-occupied; failed to disclose a recent mortgage of more than a million dollars that the borrower had taken but that had not yet appeared on his credit report; included an appraisal that falsified the square footage of the property; and falsely claimed to IndyMac Bank that the payments that developers had made on the property were, in fact, a bonus given to the borrower by his employer. Based on the misrepresentations, IndyMac Bank approved the mortgage application.
The loss resulting from STEVENS' scheme exceeded $1 million.
