Mortgage pro pleads guilty in fraud scheme

A California mortgage professional has pleaded guilty to his role in a mortgage fraud scheme

A California mortgage professional has pleaded guilty to his role in a mortgage fraud scheme.

Jun Michael Dirain, 41, of Antelope, Calif., pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Prosecutors say that Dirain and his co-conspirators were employed at Delta Homes and Lending Inc., a real estate and mortgage company. Between 2004 and 2007, Dirain – a loan processor – conspired to obtain mortgages using falsified loan applications that misrepresented borrowers’ assets, income, employment status and citizenship.

To boost the scheme’s plausibility, Dirain and his co-conspirators gave money to borrowers to artificially inflate their bank balances until loans were approved, prosecutors alleged. After approval, the borrowers would return the money to the defendants.

The homes purchased in the scam sold for an aggregate of more than $10 million. Mortgage lenders and other victims suffered losses of at least $4 million, prosecutors said.

Dirain’s sentencing is scheduled for April. He faces up to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $1 million.