Brent Kaufman, Mortgage Fraud, New York 2026

A brazen mortgage fraud scheme in Long Island has been brought to a close with the guilty plea of former unlicensed mortgage broker Brent Kaufman.

Earlier today, at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, Kaufman pleaded guilty before United States District Judge Kiyo A. Matsumoto to a criminal information charging him with stealing $4.7 million in mortgage refinancing proceeds that were meant to pay off the existing mortgages of his clients.

When sentenced, Kaufman faces up to 30 years in prison, as well as forfeiture and a fine of up to $1 million. The charges against Kaufman stem from his scheme to defraud Home Point Financial Corporation, LoanDepot.com LLC and United Wholesale Mortgage and other mortgage lenders by obtaining, and attempting to obtain, monies and funds from the Lenders by means of materially false representations.

According to court filings and facts presented during the plea proceeding, Kaufman worked as an unlicensed mortgage broker and often assisted clients in Queens and Long Island with refinancing their mortgages. At the closing for a mortgage refinancing, the money from the new mortgage is supposed to be wired to the financial institution that holds the existing mortgage so that it can be paid off.

Between 2016 and 2019, Kaufman, together with others, engaged in the scheme to defraud the Lenders by providing incorrect wire routing information to the Lenders for the existing mortgages. Instead of wiring the funds to the correct financial institution, the funds were instead transferred to bank accounts controlled by Kaufman.

As a result, the existing mortgages were not paid off—leaving the clients with two mortgages on their homes—and Kaufman stole the funds for his own personal use. During the period of the charged conduct, Kaufman stole more than over $4.7 million, some of which he used to enrich his own lifestyle.

Acting United States Attorney Jacquelyn M. Kasulis stated, “With today’s guilty plea, Kaufman admits to stealing millions of dollars in a brazen mortgage fraud scheme that defrauded numerous lenders and left his homeowner-clients in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure.”

Kaufman was charged with stealing $4.7 million in mortgage refinancing proceeds that were meant to pay off the existing mortgages of his clients.

The case is part of the Department of Justice’s ongoing efforts to combat mortgage fraud.

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