“Eric Hill and his co-conspirators defrauded mortgage loan holders out of millions of dollars, with taxpayers being saddled with much of the loss,” said US Attorney Kurt Erskine.
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The defendants helped more than 100 homebuyers who were unqualified to obtain a mortgage and submit fraudulent loan applications. Many of the loans were insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), and Hill netted over $850,000 in claims paid by the FHA because of defaults on fraudulent loans.
“Eric Hill engaged in premeditated criminal acts with the sole purpose of enriching himself, without regard for millions of American homebuyers who rely on federal housing programs to insure their mortgages. His fraudulent actions strike not only at the fiscal integrity of the FHA but also our neighbors and communities who are victims of these schemes,” said Wyatt Achord, special agent in charge of the case.
Hill and Kelske then coordinated with other real estate agents, multiple document fabricators, and employment verifiers so that their lies to the lenders were consistent. Prosecutors said the agents instructed the homebuyers on what type of assets they needed to claim to have in the bank and what kind of employment and income they needed to submit in their mortgage applications.