Minneapolis Feds File Criminal Charge In TJ Waconia Mortgage Fraud Investigation

In Minnesota, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports:

• A Roseville firm involved in hundreds of real estate deals in the Twin Cities area was charged Friday with a single count of mail fraud resulting from a federal mortgage fraud investigation. The charge suggests that a plea deal may have been reached and that federal attorneys may be looking at charges higher up the lending chain, according to those who have prosecuted white-collar crime. The U.S. attorney's office filed the one-page charge against appraiser Thomas J. Balko, 37, of Rogers; Jonathan E. Helgason, 45, of Chisago City; and TJ Waconia, the company they formed in 2000. They could not be reached Friday night.

• "It sounds minimalist," said City Council Member Don Samuels. He has compared the damage he said the company did in at least 140 deals in his and other North Side Minneapolis neighborhoods to the damage caused by drug dealers. But a former assistant federal prosecutor, Mark Larsen, said filing the charge without an indictment strongly suggests a plea deal. Such deals often require testimony against others involved in a criminal activity, described in this case as a three-year mortgage fraud scheme.

For more, see Real estate company charged in fraud scheme (A Roseville firm involved in quick-turn deals faces one count, but it appears likely that charges for other lenders are ahead).

Go here for other posts on the alleged TJ Waconia house flipping operation.