MANHATTAN (CN) - A real estate attorney on was sentenced to 5 years in prison for a $23 million mortgage fraud scheme. Cheddi Goberdhan "worked closely with corrupt loan officers of GuyAmerican Funding, a mortgage brokerage firm in Queens," federal prosecutors said.
Goberdhan pleaded guilty in January to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud and six counts of bank fraud. U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin sentenced him Tuesday.
Goberdhan and his co-conspirators at GuyAmerican Funding, in Jamaica, Queens, preyed upon distressed homebuyers, whom they talked into selling their homes to straw buyers. GuyAmerican then submitted fraudulent loan documents, kept the lion's share of the loans, and the straw buyers walked away from the mortgages.
Goberdhan "acted as the bank's attorney and/or the straw buyers' attorney on dozens of fraudulent mortgage loans originated through GuyAmerican, including loans in which the same straw buyer was used to purchase multiple homes within a short period of time," prosecutors said.
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