NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) - Two mortgage loan officers were sentenced Wednesday after being convicted of a $9 million mortgage fraud scheme.
Dorian Brown and Fritz Bonaventure were convicted of defrauding various lending institutions by using fraudulent "straw identities" to apply for mortgage loans.
Brown was sentenced to four months in prison and 300 hours of community service for one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, and one count of wire fraud. Bonaventure was sentenced to three months in prison and six months of home confinement for one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud.
U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: "Today's sentences continue to send the message that those who engage in mortgage fraud will be caught, prosecuted, and forced to forfeit their ill-gotten gains."
Brown and Bonaventure helped to prepare and process fraudulent mortgage applications. They matched straw buyers and loan processors with lending institutions.
They allegedly were able to obtain more than $9 million in mortgage loans for the purchase of dozens of residential properties throughout the New York City metropolitan area and Long Island. Most of the loans quickly went into default, the Department of Justice said.