Kansas Man Gets 15 Months for Defrauding Mortgage Lenders

A Johnson County, Kan. man has been sentenced to 15 months in federal prison on bank fraud charges, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom stated. In addition, he was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine. Kevin M. Mahoney of Stilwell, Kan. pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. In his plea, he admitted he conspired with co-defendant Paul Hartfield and others to make false representations to lenders in order to fraudulently obtain funds from mortgage lenders. Hartfield owned two businesses: Hart Investments Inc. and Diamond Mortgage, both in Overland Park, Kan. Kevin Mahoney was a loan officer for Diamond Mortgage. Hart Investments purchased depressed properties in order to rehabilitate them and sell them at a profit. Hart Investments obtained loans to rehabilitate homes on a “subject to appraisal” basis that allowed the company to withdraw money as rehabilitation progressed. Starting in October 2006, Hartfield stopped rehabilitating houses. Instead, Hartfield, Mahoney, and others made false representations to lenders in order to fraudulently obtain loan funds. Mahoney made false statements on loan applications and submitted them to mortgage lenders to fraudulently obtain loan funds for six properties. Co-defendants included: ►Paul Hartfield, who was sentenced to 78 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $2.6 million restitution. ►Brian D. Jaimes, who was sentenced to 24 months.  ►John T. Bradfield, who was sentenced to 15 months. Grissom commended the FBI, the Internal Revenue Service, the FDIC-Office of Inspector General, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jabari Wamble, and Assistant U.S. Attorney David Smith for their work on the case.