Minnesota Mortgage Broker Faces Five Years Behind Bars in $5 Million Fraud Scam

Lindsey Rae Loyear from St. Paul, Minn. has been charged with participating in a scheme to defraud mortgage lenders out of more than $5 million. From 2006 through October of 2008, Loyear allegedly conspired with others to defraud mortgage lenders in connection with financing real estate transactions in the Twin Cities, including the purchase of Cloud 9 Sky Flats development in Minnetonka, Minn. The scheme involved the submission of false information to lenders in order to obtain mortgage loans. If convicted, Loyear faces a potential maximum penalty of five years in prison. This case is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Postal Inspection Service. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert M. Lewis and Tracy L. Perzel. As a real estate agent and mortgage broker, Loyear allegedly concealed information from potential lenders, including that she had arranged short-term loans to buyers to use as downpayments and had paid cash kickbacks to buyers for purchasing the properties. Altogether, more than 130 units were sold through the scheme, and more than $8 million was transferred to accounts, which were then used to pay kickbacks and share loan proceeds among co-conspirators.