Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Monthly Payments For Criminal Restitution In Minnesota Developer's Straw Buyer Scam Could Go On For 660 Years

In Minneapolis, Minneosta, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports:
  • A federal judge Thursday ordered five people and a defunct corporation to pay more than $5.4 million to victims in what has been called the state's biggest mortgage fraud case. Under the plan set up by U.S. District Judge Ann Montgomery, though, it'll take 660 years for the defendants to pay the restitution if each makes the minimum $150-a-month payment.

  • The money is a fraction of the $20 million to $50 million the government says the defendants scammed in the four-year con. The restitution amount — $5,467,705, to be exact — represents the total in claims filed by victims in the case.

  • Officials believe the scheme involved $100 million in fraudulent financing for 240 homes currently in some stage of foreclosure. The brains behind the scam were Michael Alan Parish and Ardith Ann Parish, a couple who lived in Eagan. Their company, Parish Marketing and Development Corp., had become one of the metro area's most highly regarded homebuilders.

For more, see Judge orders mortgage scammers to pay $5.4 million (Restitution set for five in massive mortgage fraud).

See also, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Judge orders Parish fraud ring to pay victims.

Go here for earlier posts on the now-defunct Eagan, Minnesota homebuilder Parish Marketing and Development.