Rockford LO Sentenced For Mortgage Fraud

After being convicted in November 2008 for charges related to organizing a mortgage fraud scheme, Mitchel A. Fuchs, a.k.a. "Mike Fox," of Rockford, Illinois, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Frederick J. Kapala to 144 months in prison. In addition to the 12 years of imprisonment, Judge Kapala also ordered Fuchs to pay $183,890 in restitution. According to Patrick J. Fitzgerald, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Fuchs, and co-conspirators Frank G. Anast of Rockford, and Jessica L. Gibson of Loves Park, Ill., defrauded commercial lenders by causing unqualified loan applicants to receive commercial loans. From 2002 through approximately 2005, Fuchs was a loan officer at two Rockford mortgage brokerage firms that earned fees by assisting customers in obtaining mortgage-backed loans from commercial lenders. From February of 2004 through August of 2004, Gibson worked for Fuchs as a loan processor. During this same time period, Anast was self-employed doing computer work. Fuchs defrauded commercial lenders by deceiving them into funding loans for unqualified loan applicants by paying Anast to create fictitious pay stubs and W-2s for Fuchs' loan customers. In addition, Fuchs and Gibson falsely altered pay stubs and W-2s for other loan customers and altered credit reports for Fuchs' loan customers. Fuchs created fictitious cashier's checks and official bank checks to falsely show that his customers had invested their own funds in the properties. In addition, Fuchs and Gibson created fraudulent investment statements in order to show that loan customers had sufficient funds available to close on the loans they were seeking. Both Anast and Gibson were sentenced on Nov. 14, 2008. Anast was sentenced to five years of probation, 10 months of which are to be served on home confinement and ordered to pay $87,369 in restitution. Gibson was sentenced to four years of probation, two months of which are to be served on home confinement and ordered to pay $29,510 in restitution.