A New York real estate attorney this week pleaded guilty to bank fraud and conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud in connection with a scheme that defrauded residential lenders out of more than $23 million.
Cheddi Goberdhan, an attorney in Queens County, pleaded guilty on Monday to the charges in Manhattan federal court, according to a statement released by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
Goberdhan faces a maximum sentence of 210 years in prison and will be required to pay restitution to the victims of his alleged offense and to forfeit the proceeds. He is scheduled for sentencing in early April.
Goberdhan, the ninth defendant convicted of participating in this particular scam, "carried out an elaborate subterfuge designed to steal millions of dollars in home mortgage loans," said New York U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara.
The scheme involved co-conspirators arranging home sales between straw buyers, who posed as homebuyers, but who had no intention of living in the mortgaged properties, according to Bharara's office. LOs then obtained mortgage loans for the deals by submitting fraudulent applications to banks and lenders.
The co-conspirators kept "some or most" of the mortgage proceeds for themselves, while the straw buyers ultimately defaulted on the mortgages, according to Bharara's office.
