The owner of a California mortgage brokerage company was sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay more than $5.8 million in restitution for her role in a real estate-related wire fraud conspiracy.
Amy Schloemann, who was the president of Hiddenbrooke Mortgage Company, Vallejo, Calif., pleaded guilty in August 2012 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. According to court documents, between 2006 and July 2007, Schloemann conspired with others to purchase at least 18 properties in the Northern and Eastern Districts of California in the names of fictitious identities. The scam also involved the use of straw buyers.
As part of the fraudulent scheme, Schloemann supervised others who processed loan packages with materially false information, such as contracts that reflected inflated sales prices above the original sales prices. The purchase loans, which were 100% financed, exceeded the sales prices received by the sellers.
The profits that resulted from the transactions were dispersed through escrow to entities controlled by Schloemann. Furthermore, all but a few of the properties involved in the conspiracy were foreclosed due to the failure to make mortgage payments.
Additionally, lenders suffered significant losses as a result of this scam.
Schloemann was indicted by a federal grand jury in October 2009 and charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. Her sentencing will begin on July 29, announced Melinda Haag, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of California.
