Washington Man Sentenced to Five Years in Prison for Mail Fraud Schemes

PITTSBURGH—On September 28, 2012, a resident of Washington, Pennsylvania, was sentenced in federal court to five years of imprisonment on his convictions for mail fraud, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today. Anthony was also ordered to pay more than $1,000,000 in restitution to the numerous victims of his fraud schemes.

Senior United States District Judge Maurice Cohill imposed the sentence on Harry Anthony, 42, of 2279 Cornelia Street in Washington, Pennsylvania.

According to information presented to the court, Anthony operated a closing company, a mortgage brokerage company, and a construction company. Anthony submitted loan applications to lenders in his own name and in the names of others that contained material misrepresentations related to the applicants’ incomes. Anthony further submitted forged documents, deposited forged checks into an account he controlled, and, as part of the loan closing, caused payments to his construction company that were falsely represented to the lenders to be for construction costs or maintenance and repair expenses.

Anthony was also an insurance agent who sold annuities to his clients. To generate commission payments, Anthony convinced his clients to sell their annuities prior to their maturity dates and purchase different annuities. To induce his clients to sell their annuities, Anthony falsely representing to them that they would not incur surrender charges when they sold their annuities prior to their maturity dates. In fact, however, the clients did incur surrender charges. Anthony also made false representations to the insurance companies selling the annuities so that those companies would approve the transactions.

Assistant United States Attorney Brendan T. Conway prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

U.S. Attorney Hickton commended the Mortgage Fraud Task Force for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Anthony. The Mortgage Fraud Task Force is comprised of investigators from federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies and others involved in the mortgage industry. Federal law enforcement agencies participating in the Mortgage Task Force include the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation; the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General; the United States Postal Inspection Service; and the United States Secret Service. Other Mortgage Fraud Task Force members include the Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office; the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, Bureau of Consumer Protection; the Pennsylvania Department of Banking; the Pennsylvania Department of State, Bureau of Enforcement and Investigation; and the United States Trustee’s Office.