Defendant Pleads Guilty to Role in Mortgage Fraud Ring

BOSTON, MA—A Florida man was convicted today in federal court for his role in a large-scale mortgage fraud conspiracy.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Warren T. Bamford, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation - Boston Field Division; Susan Dukes, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations – Boston Field Office; Randy Miskanic, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; and Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis jointly announced today that SAMUEL JEAN-LOUIS, age 25, of Florida, pled guilty before U.S. District Judge George A. O’Toole, Jr. to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and 11 counts of wire fraud.

At today’s plea hearing, the prosecutor told the Court that had the case proceeded to trial the government’s evidence would have proven that in or about 2005 and 2006, JEAN-LOUIS participated with others in a conspiracy to defraud mortgage lenders in connection with certain property transactions in and around the Boston area. JEAN-LOUIS acted as a mortgage broker and recruiter in the underlying scheme to defraud. Specifically, JEAN-LOUIS prepared several mortgage loan applications containing false representations for certain property transactions and caused these applications to be submitted to mortgage lenders. As a result, the mortgage lenders wired funds, via interstate wire, to a bank account of a Boston attorney responsible for closing the loans. JEAN-LOUIS also recruited a “straw” borrower for a fraudulent loan application on another property transaction during the course of the conspiracy.

Judge O’Toole scheduled sentencing for June 29, 2010. JEAN-LOUIS faces up to five years' imprisonment, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine on the conspiracy count, and 20 years' imprisonment, to be followed by up to three years of supervised release, and up to a $250,000 fine on each count of wire fraud.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue Service, and United States Postal Inspection Service, with assistance from the Boston Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Victor A. Wild and Ryan M. DiSantis of Ortiz’s Economic Crimes Unit and Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Murrane of Ortiz’s Asset Forfeiture Unit.