Massachusetts woman sentenced for role in straw buyer scheme

Elizabeth Son, a resident of Manchester-by-the-Sea, Mass., has been sentenced in federal court for her participation in a mortgage fraud scheme in 2005. United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Warren T. Banford, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation--Boston Field Division; Robert Bethel, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; Susan Dukes, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation--Boston Field Office; and Police Commissioner Edward Davis of the Boston Police Department, announced that Son was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Rya W. Zobel to three years of supervised release, with the first six months to be served in a half-way house, and was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $611,000 to victim mortgage lenders. On Nov. 25, 2008 Son pled guilty to four counts of wire fraud. In 2005, Son participated in a scheme with others to defraud mortgage lenders in connection with the purchase of two properties in Dorchester by serving as a “straw” borrower on fraudulent loan applications. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Internal Revenue Service, with assistance from the Boston Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Victor A. Wild and Ryan M. DiSantis of the Ortiz’s Economic Crimes Unit and Mary Murrane of the Asset Forfeiture Unit.  For more information, visit boston.fbi.gov.