Palm Beach County Man To Forfeit $6.5M As Part Of Plea Deal In Alleged "Cash Back" Straw Buyer Scam Involving 44 South Florida Homes

In South Florida, the Palm Beach Post reports:

• A Palm Beach County real estate investor who was videotaped describing a mortgage scam(1) to an undercover FBI agent has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and one count of mail fraud. Berry Louidort agreed to forfeit $6.5 million and a 2008 Mercedes, according to a plea agreement filed Wednesday in federal court. According to the latest indictment from federal prosecutors, Louidort was part of a scheme to land bogus mortgages on 37 properties in Palm Beach County and seven in Naples.(2)

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• Federal prosecutors say the ring overstated the values of properties - including large new homes in Wellington and Boca Raton - then took out loans and pocketed the difference between the amount they paid the sellers and the amount they got from borrowers.

For the story, see Mortgage scam case nets third guilty plea.

(1) According to the story, in one example, Louidort convinced a lender that he had paid $1.03 million for a house west of Delray Beach and walked away from the closing with an "assignment fee" of $250,000, federal prosecutors said in April. The house soon went into foreclosure. The ring also enlisted straw buyers, such as the part-time [supermarket] cashier whose income on loan applications was inflated from $13,000 to $344,000 so she could qualify for $1.3 million in loans on a Boca Raton home.

(2) According to the story, two other players in the scam, former Bank of America employee Ria Sigala and Delray Beach insurance agent Danny Mesidort, pleaded guilty last month. Ralph Michel and Lauren Jasky, accused in the scam, have pleaded not guilty.