St. Louis Man Pleads Guilty to Loan Misreps

A St. Louis man pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois to making a false statement to a financial institution in connection with a mortgage fraud scheme. Keith L. Pittman was indicted in June 2008 as part of a nationwide crackdown on mortgage fraud. Pittman was one of more than 400 people charged nationwide in mortgage fraud cases that were identified as a result of a Department of Justice initiative known as "Operation Malicious Mortgage." Pittman and others participated in a scheme to obtain residential real estate for himself by making a series of false statements in connection with a series of fraudulent transactions designed to enable him to obtain real property without making an actual downpayment, while simultaneously exposing the lending institution to an undisclosed and increased risk of default. Pittman is scheduled to be sentenced on June 5, 2009.