David Gotterup, Loan Modification Scheme, New York 2017

Long Island Man Sentenced for Loan Modification Scheme

A Long Island man has been re-sentenced to 135 months in prison for leading a loan modification scheme that defrauded distressed homeowners in New York.

David Gotterup, 37, of Oceanside, NY, pleaded guilty on June 16, 2016, to conspiring to commit wire, mail and bank fraud. As part of the sentence, the Court ordered Gotterup to pay $2,500,050 in forfeiture.

The scheme, which operated from 2008 to 2012, targeted over a thousand distressed homeowners seeking relief through government mortgage modification programs. Gotterup and his co-conspirators made false promises to convince the homeowners to pay thousands of dollars each in advance fees to numerous companies owned or controlled by Gotterup.

Gotterup was arrested in October 2015 and has been incarcerated since then. The sentence was announced by Bridget M. Rohde, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and other law enforcement officials.

The case is being prosecuted by the Office’s Business and Securities Fraud Unit, with Assistant United States Attorneys Sylvia Shweder and Bonni Perlin in charge of the prosecution.

The original sentence of 15 years in prison was handed down on March 7, 2017, but Gotterup’s motion for reconsideration led to today’s re-sentencing before United States District Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis.

The government’s investigation was led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Inspector General, with assistance from the U.S. Small Business Administration and the Staten Island District Attorney’s Office.

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