Five Charged with Mortgage Fraud

May 21, 2010 - MADISON, WI—Stephen P. Sinnott, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced the filing of information charging five individuals with submitting false loan applications to banks and mortgage lenders to obtain home mortgages. Specifically, the information charged:

• Brian Bowling, 44, of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, with wire fraud;
• Jason Khodadad, 29, of Madison, Wisconsin, with conspiracy to submit a false loan application;
• Joseph Bowman, 59, of Black Earth, Wisconsin, with conspiracy to submit a false loan application;
• Joshua Hughes, 28, of Madison, with conspiracy to submit a false loan application; and
• Richard Hurkman, 62, of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, with conspiracy to submit a false loan application.

If convicted of wire fraud, Bowling faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison. If convicted of conspiracy to submit a false loan application, Khodadad, Bowman, Hughes, and Hurkman each face five years in prison.

The informations charged that the defendants defrauded banks and mortgage lenders by submitting loan applications for home loans that, among other things, inflated the borrowers' income amounts, exaggerated assets and understated liabilities, falsified employment information, misrepresented the source of downpayment funds, and omitted secondary financing information.

Hughes and Bowman pleaded guilty on Wednesday May 19, 2010, in U.S. District Court in Madison before Judge Barbara Crabb. Sentencing for Bowman is scheduled for July 22, 2010, at 1:20 p.m. Sentencing for Hughes is set for July 29, 2010, at 1:20 p.m.

Khodadad is scheduled to plead guilty on Tuesday May 25, 2010, at 1:40 p.m. Bowling is scheduled to plead guilty on Friday May 28, 2010, at 1:20 p.m. Hurkman's plea hearing has not yet been set.

These cases are part of President Barack Obama's Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. President Obama established the interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force to wage an aggressive, coordinated, and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. The task force includes representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general, and state and local law enforcement who, working together, bring to bear a powerful array of criminal and civil enforcement resources. The task force is working to improve efforts across the federal executive branch, and with state and local partners, to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes, ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets, and recover proceeds for victims of financial crimes.

The charges are the result of an investigation conducted by the Madison office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The prosecution of this case has been assigned to members of the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force in the U.S. Attorney's Office in Madison.