A Mountain View woman could face millions of dollars in fines
and decades in prison after she was found guilty Tuesday of
mortgage fraud in Gilroy and San Francisco.
A Mountain View woman could face millions of dollars in fines and decades in prison after she was found guilty Tuesday of mortgage fraud in Gilroy and San Francisco.
Judy “Miu Wan” Yeung, 58, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, eight counts of wire fraud and three counts of witness tampering by a federal jury, United States Attorney Joseph P. Russoniello announced.
The maximum statutory penalty for each count is 30 years and a fine of $1 million plus restitution. However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. sentencing guidelines.
Yeung, together with two mortgage brokers, recruited five people to submit loan applications in their names to obtain loans totaling more than $6.5 million, prosecutors said.
“The conviction of Ms. Yeung should be taken as affirmation that our efforts to uncover and prosecute those engaged in mortgage fraud, at whatever level of their involvement, are serious and ongoing,” Russoniello said. “Mortgage fraud has weakened our economy nationally and done irreparable damage to households, neighborhoods, and communities throughout this district.”
The jury, after deliberating for one day, found Yeung engaged in a mortgage fraud conspiracy between about December 2004 and January 2007. Yeung engaged in the transactions to buy Gilroy investment properties at 1351 Third St. and 7187 Pitlochry Drive when real estate prices were still rising, according to an April 2009 indictment.
Yeung also fraudulently refinanced her San Francisco home in Balboa Terrace to obtain cash from mortgage lenders and pay off existing loans, according to the Department of Justice. Testimony at trial established that Yeung obtained more than $624,000 in cash from these fraudulent transactions.
Yeung submitted false information and forged documents to mortgage lenders, including Washington Mutual and J.P. Morgan Chase, the jury found. The loan applications in each case exaggerated the income, assets, and creditworthiness of the individuals posing as borrowers for Yeung, according to the Justice Department. The forged letters were then used in support of loan applications. Some of the individuals posing as borrowers, who testified at trial, said that Yeung had promised to pay the mortgages obtained in their names.
On Oct. 20, 2005, Long Beach Mortgage funded first and second mortgages via interstate wires in the name of a straw buyer for a home at 1351 Third St. in Gilroy for $637,434 and $159,104, according to the April federal indictment. The mortgages were taken out based on false information provided by Yeung and straw buyer Long Beach Mortgage.
Then, in December 2005, Yeung recruited another straw buyer to purchase the same house for $656,953 and $165,696 respectively, also via interstate wires.
On March 6, 2006, Silver State Financial Services funded first and second mortgages for $1.003 million and $299,332 respectively for a home at 7187 Pitlochry Drive in the Eagle Ridge development based on false information provided by Yeung and the straw buyer, according to the April 2009 indictment.
Yeung’s sentencing is scheduled for May 14 before Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco.
