After pleading guilty to various roles in an alleged mortgage fraud scheme, three members of a Missouri family are now facing sentences of between one and 10 years in jail. The husband, wife and son are three of the 17 defendants indicted in connection to the purported fraud scheme.

According to court documents, the defendants committed mortgage and wire fraud by submitting fraudulent mortgage loan applications for the perceived purchase of homes and other residential properties at falsely inflated prices. Then, a significant portion of each home's purchase price would be paid back to the buyer without the knowledge of the lender.

In sum, the prosecuting attorneys allege that 26 homes were purchased using this method, taking out a total of nearly $11 million in mortgage loans. Most of the homes purchased in the alleged fraud scheme have since gone into foreclosure. The 17 defendants involved in the case are accused of receiving more than $4.3 million in kickback payments.

Specifically, the husband of the recently-sentenced family admitted to receiving more than $1 million in kickbacks from the scheme. As the owner of the real estate company at which his family members worked, he received the harshest punishment following his guilty plea. He was sentenced to 10 years in a federal prison with no possibility of parole. He must also pay more than $4 million in restitution to the mortgage lenders who were allegedly defrauded.

The son, who also worked as a real estate agent in his father's firm, was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison. The mother, who worked as the firm's secretary, will spend one year and one day in prison. Both are jointly and severally liable for restitution as well.

As this harsh sentence makes clear, a fraud charge is a very serious matter. If you have been charged with a similar crime, you should seriously consider retaining an experienced St. Louis criminal defense attorney.

Source: Kansas City InfoZine, "Family of Missouri Real Estate Sentenced for Mortgage Fraud Scheme," Feb. 7, 2012