Mortgage brokers may have been scapegoated during the 2008 meltdown, but a high-profile fraud case is pointing to the role of other industry professionals
Former real estate agent Hubert Rotteveel will spend three years and four months in prison for one count of mail fraud, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
Rotteveel was found guilty by a federal jury of the charge in September 2014. According to trial evidence, Rotteveel acted as the real estate salesman for 13 properties in Dixon, Calif. Over $7 million in loans were originated on the properties for two buyers in seven months.
“Hubert Rotteveel manipulated every aspect of the real estate process for his personal gain. As so often occurs in these cases, the result was losses to the financial institutions and neighborhoods burdened with foreclosed properties,” U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner said following the original trial, according to an FBI release. “We are grateful for the diligence, professionalism and cooperation that we have received from the FBI, the IRS, and all of our law enforcement partners in prosecuting these cases.”
Rotteveel allegedly worked with originators to falsify income of the buyers to entice lenders to lend on the properties.
“The defendant induced lenders to fund loans under false pretenses and then diverted a portion of the loan proceeds to himself,” said José M. Martínez, Special Agent in Charge, IRS-Criminal Investigation following the trial, according the FBI release. “Each of the homes purchased during the course of the scheme was foreclosed upon. The impact of this type of fraud on homeowners and communities is devastating. IRS-CI is committed to pursuing those who line their pockets with profits from these schemes.”
The mortgage industry was decimated following the economic downturn, with many leaving the industry after being targeted by regulators for mortgage fraud. This case, and others like it, however, point to other financial players that had a hand in the growing number of fraud cases prior to, and after, the recession.
Rotteveel was found guilty by a federal jury of the charge in September 2014. According to trial evidence, Rotteveel acted as the real estate salesman for 13 properties in Dixon, Calif. Over $7 million in loans were originated on the properties for two buyers in seven months.
“Hubert Rotteveel manipulated every aspect of the real estate process for his personal gain. As so often occurs in these cases, the result was losses to the financial institutions and neighborhoods burdened with foreclosed properties,” U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner said following the original trial, according to an FBI release. “We are grateful for the diligence, professionalism and cooperation that we have received from the FBI, the IRS, and all of our law enforcement partners in prosecuting these cases.”
Rotteveel allegedly worked with originators to falsify income of the buyers to entice lenders to lend on the properties.
“The defendant induced lenders to fund loans under false pretenses and then diverted a portion of the loan proceeds to himself,” said José M. Martínez, Special Agent in Charge, IRS-Criminal Investigation following the trial, according the FBI release. “Each of the homes purchased during the course of the scheme was foreclosed upon. The impact of this type of fraud on homeowners and communities is devastating. IRS-CI is committed to pursuing those who line their pockets with profits from these schemes.”
The mortgage industry was decimated following the economic downturn, with many leaving the industry after being targeted by regulators for mortgage fraud. This case, and others like it, however, point to other financial players that had a hand in the growing number of fraud cases prior to, and after, the recession.
