Minnesota Prosecutors Charge Developer, Mortgage Broker, & "Straw Buyer" Recruiter In Alleged Flipping Scam

Three people have been charged by Hennepin County prosecutors in a property flipping, mortgage fraud scam, according to media reports out of Minnesota.

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports:

• Three people associated with a suburban developer have been charged with racketeering and theft in a case alleging mortgage fraud based on property-flipping. The Hennepin County attorney's office filed eight charges each against the three defendants: Scott R. Rosenlund of Chaska, president of 10Spring, a home building and development company; Celeste Skaar of Orono, owner of New Day Capital, a mortgage brokerage; and Shinon Lindberg of Greenwood, who allegedly recruited straw buyers for the flipped properties.

KARE-TV Channel 11 reports:

• Prosecutors say the take was more than $2.5 million, and the scheme went on and on until one straw buyer from New Prague called foul after he put in $250,000 and got nothing in return. [...] The three have each been charged with one count of Racketeering and seven counts of Felony Theft by Swindle over $35,000.

The Pioneer Press reports that those who were recruited as the "straw men" in the real estate purchases were left owing millions of dollars.

For more, see:

• 3 people charged in mortgage fraud case (Three people associated with a suburban developer have been charged with racketeering and theft in a case alleging mortgage fraud based on property-flipping),
• Three charged in multi-million dollar bank fraud scam,
• Go here for KARE-TV Channel 11 video report.
• Three charged in real estate fraud case.
• Real estate deal sounded too good to be true. It was. (Three charged with massive mortgage scam that left victims owing millions).

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Suspect In Minneapolis-Area Alleged Home Flipping Scam Cops Plea, Agrees To Sing

The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports:

• A key figure implicated in a suburban mortgage fraud and property flipping scam has pled guilty to racketeering, and has agreed to work with authorities who are investigating two others involved in the scam, the Hennepin County Attorney's office said. Celeste Skaar, of Orono, entered her plea and will forgo a jury trial, the attorney's office said. Skaar is the owner of New Day Capital and was charged in September with conspiring with two others to defraud banks through false loan applications and for finding straw buyers for properties that were bought and resold, often the same day and for a big gain in price, a criminal complaint said.

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• The complaint also names Scott R. Rosenlund, president of 10Spring, Inc., a home building and development company, and Shinon Lindberg, a business associate of 10Spring. They were charged in September with racketeering and theft by swindle.

Source: Two charged in mortgage fraud scam due in court today (Men face charges of theft by swindle and racketeering in connection with a home mortgage fraud scam).

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Minnesota Men Convicted In Straw Buyer, Home Flipping Mortgage Fraud Scam Involving $100M In Fraudulently Obtained Loans

In Minneapolis, Minnesota, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports:

• Two metro-area men have been found guilty of racketeering and multiple counts of theft in Hennepin County District Court for their role in one of the state's largest mortgage fraud cases, worth approximately $100 million. Shinon Lindberg, of Greenwood, and Scott R. Rosenlund, of Chaska, were convicted by a Hennepin County jury Thursday. [... Mortgage broker Celeste] Skaar pleaded guilty this spring to one count of racketeering.

For more, see Two guilty in mortgage fraud (The scheme used straw buyers to purchase homes in the southwest metro at inflated prices).

For story updates, see:

• 2-20-09: Chaska man is sentenced seven years in mortgage scheme (He ends up jailed right away after heated hearing over appeals. Sentencing for cohort was delayed until early March),
• 3-4-09: Partner gets 7 years in mortgage fraud case (The judge sentenced a second defendant in the $6 million scheme involving the 10Spring Homes).

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