Mortgage Fraud Defendant Sentenced to 37 Months in Federal Prison

PORTLAND, OR—Jeremy Richardson, 33, of Vancouver, Washington, was sentenced Tuesday in U.S. District Court to 37 months in prison following his 2008 guilty plea to money laundering. Richardson’s money laundering activity related to a mortgage fraud scheme which affected approximately 100 properties in Oregon and southwest Washington. Richardson was also ordered to pay restitution of more than $496,000 to various individuals and four title companies directly harmed by his fraud scheme.

During the plea hearing before Judge Anna Brown in 2008, Richardson admitted that he advertised and solicited persons interested in buying real estate, either to live in or as an investment. If an investor was not able to qualify for the necessary mortgage financing, Richardson would falsify the buyer/investor qualifications and information provided to the lender. If the home was being purchased as an investment, Richardson would advertise for persons interested in participating in a “rent to own” program to live in the home purchased by the investor.

Richardson admitted that he inflated the property transaction price on certain transactions in order to get extra money to use to pay business expenses including required mortgage payments on purchased real estate. He created false invoices purporting to represent repairs performed on certain properties in support of the falsely inflated prices. He also induced some customers to advance him money which he represented would be used to make a down payment on certain properties, but which he instead used to pay personal and business expenses. Evidence indicated that Richardson’s scheme involved real estate financing transactions on as many as 90-100 residential properties.

Richardson will serve a three-year term of supervised release upon his release from prison. He is required to surrender for service of his sentence no later than June 10, 2010. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Criminal Investigation Division of the Internal Revenue Service, with assistance from the Oregon Department of Finance and Corporate Security. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lance Caldwell.