Straw Buyer/"Cash Back" Mortgage Fraud Suspect Survives Suicide Attempt; Gets 5 Years In Federal Pen

In Minneapolis, Minnesota, the Pioneer Press reports:

• The co-owner of LHS Mortgage Inc., the defunct Burnsville brokerage at the heart of a major Twin Cities mortgage fraud scheme, was sentenced Thursday to five years in prison. Ronald Joseph, 49, of Prior Lake, is the fourth and last person to be sentenced in connection with a large fraud operation involving straw homebuyers, sham loan documents with inflated sale prices and kickback payouts to various players. [...] The LHS scandal gained wider attention last year when a closing agent, Jill Lehn, 40, also of Prior Lake, was arrested and then wrote an article entitled "Tips On How To Ruin Your Life" as a cautionary tale. Lehn and two other defendants in the LHS Mortgage scheme already have been sentenced.

• In court Thursday, Joseph discussed his recent suicide attempt with U.S. District Court Judge Donovan Frank. According to his attorney, Joseph Friedberg, his client was so despondent over his actions that he drank antifreeze while out on bail about a month ago so that his wife and children could collect on a $1 million life insurance policy. Friedberg said he intervened.

For more, see Mortgage scheme leads to jail (LHS co-owner Joseph gets 5 years for homebuying fraud operation).

See also:

• Minneapolis Star Tribune: Credit River Township man sentenced in fraud scheme (He and three others obtained millions in fraudulent loans. For his part, Ronald Joseph was sentenced to 63 months in prison, the minimum recommended),
• Shakopee News: Owner of LHS Mortgage Inc., sentenced.

For earlier posts on this story, go here , and go here.