Skip to main content

Las Vegas Mortgage Agent Gets 15 Months for Mortgage Scam

May 13, 2013

A Las Vegas mortgage agent was sentenced to serve 15 months in prison for her participation in a mortgage fraud scheme that netted more than $1.2 million in fraudulent mortgage loans, Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Daniel G. Bogden of the District of Nevada and Acting Special Agent in Charge William C. Woerner of the FBI’s Las Vegas Field Office announced. Heidi Haischer was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Miranda M. Du in the District of Nevada. In addition to her prison term, Haischer was sentenced to serve three years of supervised release. In November 2012, after a four-day trial, a federal jury in Las Vegas found Haischer guilty of one count of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud for submitting fraudulent loan documents to purchase two homes. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Haischer participated in a mortgage fraud scheme while employed as a mortgage broker in Nevada. From December 2006 to January 2007, Haischer and her co-conspirators fraudulently secured loans totaling over $1 million to obtain properties with the intent to flip and sell them for profit. Evidence at trial showed that Haischer and her co-conspirators subsequently enriched themselves by collecting brokerage commissions generated by the sales of the properties. The court documents and trial evidence demonstrated that Haischer submitted multiple loan applications in which she overstated her income, submitted false verification of employment and misrepresented her intent to reside in one of the properties as her primary residence. Additionally, Haischer presented inflated bank account balances supported by forged bank statements to make it appear that she had assets she did not have, in order to help qualify for mortgage loans for which she otherwise would not have been eligible. Co-conspirator Kelly Nunes was convicted in a related case in Las Vegas on Feb. 2, 2012, of one count of bank fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud. On July 11, 2012, Nunes was sentenced to 51 months in prison.
About the author
Published
May 13, 2013
Mortgage Servicers Added To Junk-Fee Naughty List

New release from CFPB lays out areas of improvement, and concern, for mortgage servicers.

In Wake Of NAR Settlement, Dual Licensing Carries RESPA, Steering Risks

With the NAR settlement pending approval, lenders hot to hire buyers' agents ought to closely consider all the risks.

A California CRA Law Undercuts Itself

Who pays when compliance costs increase? Borrowers.

CFPB Weighs Title Insurance Changes

The agency considers a proposal that would prevent home lenders from passing on title insurance costs to home buyers.

Fannie Mae Weeds Out "Prohibited or Subjective" Appraisal Language

The overall occurrence rate for these violations has gone down, Fannie Mae reports.

Arizona Bans NTRAPS, Following Other States

ALTA on a war path to ban the "predatory practice of filing unfair real estate fee agreements in property records."