Bowie Realtor Pleads Guilty to $2 Million Mortgage Fraud Scheme
Greenbelt, Maryland – Michael Abobor, age 38, of Bowie, Maryland, pleaded guilty late yesterday, on what would have been the first day of his trial, to wire fraud in connection with a mortgage fraud scheme involving intended losses of at least $2 million.
The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Inspector General Jon T. Rymer of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; Special Agent in Charge David Beach of the United States Secret Service – Washington Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Joe Clarke of the Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General – Office of Investigations.
According to his plea agreement, in the Spring and Summer of 2007, Abobor, a licensed realtor, submitted fraudulent loan applications for the purchase of homes in Maryland. Abobor purchased two homes in his own name, and purchased the rest of the homes using the names, and credit, of various friends and family members.
Each loan application contained fraudulent information about the borrower’s earnings (including their monthly income and their assets) and employers, of which Abobor had full knowledge. Some of these applications contained fake documents, like doctored W-2s and paystubs; and all of them alleged that the borrower made much more money than he or she really did.
For example, on July 25, 2007, Abobor facilitated the purchase of a home in Bowie, and while serving as the buyer’s real estate agent, knowingly submitted a false loan application on the buyer’s behalf. The loan application, among other things, vastly inflated the buyer’s monthly income figures. Relying upon these false representations, the lending institution funded a loan of $375,000.
In all, Abobor arranged at least seven fraudulent real estate transactions, caused more than $2,000,000 in intended losses to victim financial institutions, took in excess of $20,000 in fraudulent real estate commissions, and collected over $270,000 in extra money from the transactions in the form of third party disbursements for renovations that were never completed.
Abobor faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a fine of $1 million. As part of his plea agreement, Abobor will be ordered to forfeit $2,026,205, and the order of forfeiture may include assets directly traceable to his offenses, substitute assets, and/or a money judgment equal to the value of the property derived from, or involved in, the scheme.
U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte scheduled Abobor’s sentencing for April 18, 2013.
Related Federal Cases
- Maxime Maiga, Wire Fraud and Aggravated Identity Theft, Maryland 2013 · Massachusetts
- Glenn R. Fischer, Wire Fraud, Maryland 2016 · Nevada
- Tinita Joyner, Wire Fraud, Maryland 2024 · District of Columbia
- Mohammad Shafiq, Food Stamp Fraud and Wire Fraud, Maryland 2016 · Washington
- Richard Shusterman, Wire Fraud Conspiracy, Maryland 2024 · Florida
Key Facts
- State: Maryland
- Category: White Collar Crime|Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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