Real Estate Loan Officer Pleads Guilty to Mortgage Fraud Scheme

Portland, Ore.—Marty Ray Folwick, 50, pled guilty today before United States District Court Judge Garr M. King to four counts of a 15-count federal indictment which was returned by a grand jury on June 12, 2008. The guilty plea was entered as part of a plea agreement in which Folwick pled guilty to one count of bank fraud, two counts of wire fraud, and one count of money laundering. Folwick also agreed to submit to a polygraph test to determine the extent of his assets to satisfy the property forfeiture provisions of the plea agreement and the indictment. Sentencing in this matter is scheduled for December 8, 2008 at 10:30 a.m.

The charges to which Folwick pled guilty relate to a single property in Woodburn, Oregon, which was purchased for $390,000. The indictment alleges that Folwick, a real estate loan officer, found buyers for the property and then falsified their loan application by overstating their monthly income, failing to disclose that the buyers had an outstanding mortgage on another property, and failing to disclose that Folwick was receiving a $25,000 kickback from the transaction. At the plea hearing, prosecutors alleged that Folwick had engaged in similar illegal conduct with respect to almost seventy properties.

“This case involves the kind of fraud that is at the very heart of the mortgage crisis,” stated U.S. Attorney Karin J. Immergut. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon has made mortgage fraud a top priority and will continue to hold accountable those who seek to profit from the mortgage industry through lies and deception.”

The charges to which Folwick pled guilty could result in a sentence of up to 30 years in prison. However, as part of the plea agreement, the parties have agreed to a joint recommendation of a sentence of 63 months in prison. The court is also free to order restitution to the victim banks.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue Service—Criminal Investigation, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Allan Garten.

 

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