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Columbus Accountant and Realtor Plead Guilty to Mortgage Fraud and Obstruction of Justice
A shocking case of mortgage fraud has come to light in Columbus, Ohio, with local accountant Dennis G. Sartain and realtor Bonnie Helt admitting to conspiring to commit the crime. The duo, along with co-defendant Thomas Parenteau, pleaded guilty to charges of mortgage fraud, money laundering, and obstruction of justice.
According to court documents, Sartain and Helt conspired with Parenteau to file false individual income tax returns for Pamela McCarty with the IRS for the tax years 2000 through 2003. The returns falsely reported substantial losses and generated tax refunds from the IRS and the state of Ohio of over $800,000 in total. McCarty, who was Parenteau’s mistress, gave a substantial portion of the fraudulent tax refunds to Parenteau or his nominees.
The scheme continued with Sartain and Helt preparing a $4.5 million fictitious loan application to refinance a 30,000 square foot home. As a result of the fraudulent loan documents, McCarty obtained nearly $4.5 million from one bank and an additional $1.5 million from a second bank, and she transferred the money to Parenteau. From March 2004 through September 2006, Parenteau and Sartain dispersed in excess of $1 million of the loan proceeds back to McCarty by disguising the payments as payroll checks from Your Home Source (YHS) and JSS Investments, rental payments and consulting payments from YHS and other miscellaneous payments.
Additionally, Helt admitted to conspiring with Parenteau and others to negotiate and participate in real estate deals in which they sold luxury homes for a falsely inflated purchase price from the builder in exchange for an undisclosed or disguised kickback. In many of the transactions, the buyers misrepresented their income and assets in order to obtain financing of the inflated purchase price. The buyers and sellers in the transactions attempted to justify the inflated purchase prices by creating false work change orders and addendums which created the appearance that the inflated price represented additional substantial work to be completed on the homes.
Sartain and Helt admitted to conspiring with Parenteau and others to obstruct the IRS criminal investigations of Sartain, Parenteau, and others. They admitted to altering or destroying records as well as lying to federal and local law enforcement agents.
The U.S. District Court Judge Michael H. Watson has not scheduled a sentencing date for Sartain. He faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $1 million. Helt’s sentence has not been determined. Both Sartain and Helt have been released on bond pending sentencing.
Key Facts
- State: Ohio
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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