Loan Broker Pleads Guilty to Multi-Million-Dollar Mortgage Fraud Scheme

ALEXANDRIA, VA—Michael Milan, 49, of Bethesda, Md., pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud for his role in carrying out a multi-million dollar mortgage fraud scheme.

Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Joseph Persichini Jr., Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office, made the announcement after the plea was accepted by United States District Judge T.S. Ellis, III.

Milan faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison when he is sentenced on Feb. 12, 2010. As part of his guilty plea, Milan has agreed to pay restitution of $3,141,409 and to forfeit $1,061,890.31 in proceeds he obtained.

In a statement of facts filed with his plea agreement, Milan admitted that he was a consultant to various mortgage brokerage companies and conspired with others to defraud mortgage lenders into lending funds for the purchase and refinance of residential properties. Milan caused his associates to prepare false mortgage applications which contained false information about the income and assets of the borrowers. Some of the mortgage applications falsely claimed that the borrowers earned hundreds of thousands of dollars from a company, Collid LLC, which Milan controlled. Milan’s conspiracy submitted fraudulent loan applications for the purchase or refinance of 11 different properties and caused losses of more than $2.5 million but less than $7 million.

Also according to the statement of facts, Milan fled from the United States after the execution of a search warrant at his office in June 2008 and did not return until April 2009. During a detention hearing held after his return, Milan attempted to explain his extended flight from the U.S. by providing fraudulent Iranian court documents, which falsely claimed that he had been incarcerated in Iran during the summer of 2008. As part of his plea, Milan acknowledged that he attempted to obstruct justice with these false documents.

Milan is the sixth defendant convicted by the investigation. Others convicted include a settlement agent, a loan officer who worked with Milan, and Milan’s son, Dustin Milan.

This case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office. Assistant United States Attorneys Edmund P. Power and Stephen P. Learned prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/vae. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov or on https://pacer.login.uscourts.gov.