Hubert Rotteveel, Mortgage Fraud, California 2014

A federal jury in Sacramento has found Hubert Rotteveel, 52, of Dixon, guilty of one count of mail fraud affecting a financial institution relating to his role in a mortgage fraud scheme.

According to evidence produced at trial, Rotteveel acted as a real estate salesperson for 13 properties in Dixon that were purchased by just two buyers. He inflated the values of the properties and worked with loan officers to provide false information to lenders about the income and liabilities of the buyers to induce the lenders to fund loans for the properties.

Rotteveel made the down payments on the homes, including two that he owned and sold, and got that money (and usually more) back from the lenders at closing. For most of the transactions, when the sales closed, the escrow officer distributed funds to a bank account in the name of Windmill Properties, a company owned by Rotteveel, without disclosing these payments to the lenders.

Rotteveel netted over $300,000 through the sales in just seven months. According to the indictment, the lenders lost more than $3 million when all 13 properties underwent foreclosure.

Rotteveel’s conviction marked the third mortgage fraud conviction following trial in the past four weeks in the Eastern District.

U.S. Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner stated: ‘Hubert Rotteveel manipulated every aspect of the real estate process for his personal gain. As so often occurs in these cases, the result was losses to the financial institutions and neighborhoods burdened with foreclosed properties.’

Rotteveel is set to be sentenced before Senior United States District Judge William B. Shubb on December 15, 2014, at 9:30 a.m. Rotteveel faces a maximum statutory penalty of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine.

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