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Largest Mortgage Fraud Perp Gets Sentenced Next Month

Following 97 months in federal custody for his role in a high-level money laundering scheme, Thomas Kontogiannis still faces heat in the courts, as he awaits sentencing in July for the part he played in a $92 million mortgage-fraud payout between 2003 and 2007.

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""_The San Diego Union Tribune_"":http://www.signonsandiego.com/ reported that Kontogiannis may serve up to 30 years in prison for crimes related to mortgage-fraud.

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Prosecutors accuse the former Long Island financier of ""mastermind[ing] the largest mortgage origination fraud on record,"" staging property sales with misrepresented mortgage loans that Kontogiannis sold to lending institutions in the secondary market.

The former financier, notorious for his money-laundering activities with former Rep. Randall Cunningham (R-New York), used straw buyers, falsified loans, and fake appraisals and title reports to orchestrate the fraud, according to ""_The Tribune_"":http://www.signonsandiego.com/.

Court documents show that Kontogiannis pleaded guilty to $92 million in mortgage fraud in cases involving lenders DLJ Capital and Washington Mutual Bank, both of which collapsed beneath the weight of $11 billion in bad loans.

According to ""Reuters"":http://www.reuters.com/, Kontogiannis made monthly payments on the mortgages through his companies and organizations, avoiding delinquency for any of the payments. These payments stopped in 2007, leaving a trail of $92 million in principal outstanding on the fraudulent loans.

About Author: Ryan Schuette

Ryan Schuette is a journalist, cartoonist, and social entrepreneur with several years of experience in real-estate news, international reporting, and business management. He currently lives in the Washington, D.C., area, where he freelances for DS News and MReport.
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