The loan officer falsely claimed he was unemployed in an application for disability benefits
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A Louisiana mortgage broker and senior loan officer had pleaded guilty to a charge of making false statements to the Social Security Administration (SSA) in order to obtain Social Security Disability Payments, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
The case stems from a 2010 application filed by James Briant for disability benefits from the SSA for a back disorder and heart disease. In December 2011, he began receiving monthly disability benefits of approximately $2,370 based on the representation that he was unable to work. While he was receiving disability payments, Briant had an obligation to report any income he made to the SSA.
Prior to September 2012, Briant began working as a loan officer and mortgage broker at Alpha Mortgage. Despite working there through in or around June 2017, he never reported to the SSA that he was working or earned any income.
In December 2015, Briant completed a Social Security Disability form and submitted it to the SSA. In this statement, he signed and certified, under penalty of perjury, that he had not worked since 2011, knowing full well that this statement was materially false, fictitious, and fraudulent.
Briant is scheduled to be sentenced in January before US District Court Judge Barry Ashe. He faces a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison, three years of supervised release, restitution of $134,194, and a special assessment.
