California Man Cops Plea In Mortgage Scam; Led House-Flipping Operation Involving As Many As 100 Homes, Say Feds

In Sacramento, California, the Stockton Record reports:

• A Stockton man accused by federal officials of spearheading a multimillion-dollar house-flipping scheme has pleaded guilty and faces a maximum prison sentence of 21/2 years, his attorney said. Iftikhar Ahmad, 36, admits he was wrong, but that he also was a symptom of a broken mortgage system failing people throughout the nation, San Francisco defense attorney John Runfola said, adding that Ahmad became the fall guy for powerful bankers and brokers who go unpunished.

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• The guilty pleas of Ahmad and three associates come amid headlines calling Stockton ground zero for the housing mortgage crisis. In many Stockton neighborhoods, "For Sale" signs on front lawns are as common as mailboxes. He admitted to U.S. District Judge William Shubb his guilt Monday on two counts of mail fraud and one count of engaging in monetary transactions involving criminally obtained property.

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• A probe into Ahmad's company, I&R Investment Properties, won prosecutors an indictment charging Ahmad in a scheme involving as many as 100 distressed Stockton-area homes that Ahmad bought cheaply and quickly sold at inflated prices. He amassed $8.6 million, they said.

Others already having pleaded guilty in the scheme are former Long Beach Mortgage loan coordinator John Ngo, 27, of San Ramon, straw buyer Manpreet Singh, 24, of Stockton, and straw buyer recruiter Jose Serrano, 44, of Stockton.

For more, see Stockton man, 36, admits to scam (He is 4th to plead guilty in scheme to flip houses).

From the U.S. Attorney's Office:

• Plea agreement - U.S. v. Ahmad,
• Go here for U.S. Attorney Press Release.

Go here for other posts on this investigation.