Colorado man gets 5 years for multimillion-dollar mortgage fraud

A former Colorado real estate agent has been sentenced to five years in prison for orchestrating a multimillion-dollar mortgage fraud scheme, but is free on bond pending an appeal

A former Colorado real estate agent has been sentenced to five years in prison for orchestrating a multimillion-dollar mortgage fraud scheme, but is free on bond pending an appeal.

Matthew Sysum was found guilty in December of seven counts of forgery and one count of theft, according to a report by the Fort Collins Coloradoan. Prosecutors had originally asked for a 12-year sentence.

Prosecutors say Sysum sold land he didn’t own, as well as conspiring with real estate appraiser Alexander Kovacs and title insurer Darella Bloch to overvalue property he was selling. Bloch pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years in prison. Kovacs entered into a plea agreement in which he agreed to testify against Sysum and received two years’ probation, the Coloradoan reported.

According to prosecutors, Sysum forged real estate documents and falsified property appraisals in order to obtain mortgages on properties. He also sold a property to a limited liability company for $3.3 million. The property’s owner was listed as Neelou Investments, a company Sysum owned – but Neelou hadn’t actually purchased the property until after an appraisal was completed, the Coloradoan reported.