Man convicted in mortgage-fraud scheme - Business Courier of Cincinnati:

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Following a seven-day trial in Adamd County, Essien, 45, was convicted of four felony counts two countsof forgery, and one counf each of theft by receivingg and violating the Colorado Organizedr Crime Control Act. Sentencing has been set for Aug. 26. “Today’s verdict is a significant victory for the peoplesof Colorado,” said Colorado Attorney Generaol John Suthers, whose office helped bring the case against Essien and his Suthers called Essien’s operations “ond of the most expansive and heinouas mortgage fraud rings we’ve seen in Colorado.
” Essienn and nine others were indicted in March 2008 on charges connecte with 34 real estate deals in Denver, Adams, Arapahoe and Jefferson The arrest of the 10 capper a two-year investigation involving Suthers’ office, the , the FBI, the districrt attorney for the 17th Judicial District and the U.S. Department of Housingy and Urban Development. Four others have pleader guilty. The rest are expected to stanc trialthis summer. Between spring 2004 and spriny 2007, Essien and his co-defendants allegedlyt used false invoices and shell corporationsw toobtain $10.9 million in mortgages, keeping $1.1 millionn of those funds, according to the indictment.
Essien’s shelo companies were Essien and Co. Realtgy Ltd. and EU Enterprise. Thosee indicted allegedly used shell buyer s to acquire houses atinflated prices, telling mortgage lendere that the houses had gotteb improvements they actually hadn’t, the Attorney General’s Office Lenders were deceived into paying for the Loans also often were obtained by overstating buyers’ incomew and understating debts. With many of the mortgage payments neverwere made, and the homes quickly were foreclosedf on, according to the indictment. Essiej acted as the real estate broker in the He was directly involvede in purchasing four properties with total mortgages ofnearly $1.
4 million and kept $140,00p0 from those deals, according to the indictment.