Rudolf Straat, Tax Fraud, Mortgage Fraud, Money Laundering, Florida 2013

PENSACOLA, FLORIDA - A husband and wife team has been sentenced to two years in federal prison for conspiring to commit tax fraud, mortgage fraud, and money laundering.

Rudolf Straat, 49, and his wife Maria Gudelis, 45, both of Sarnia, Ontario, Canada, were found guilty of their crimes. Straat is a citizen of the Netherlands, and Gudelis is a citizen of Canada.

The couple fraudulently obtained mortgage loans to purchase homes in Florida and Nevada for more than $10 million between 2004 and 2012. They falsely represented that they were United States citizens on loan applications and made false statements concerning their employment.

Straat and Gudelis concealed income they received on the sales of these homes by transferring the properties into trusts and nominee companies. They failed to report $364,902 in capital gains for 2005 and more than $689,368 in capital gains for 2006 to the IRS.

As part of their sentence, Gudelis and Straat are required to pay restitution in the amount of $575,814 to the IRS and $5,188,459 to the mortgage lenders they victimized.

“Mortgage fraud harms not only lenders, but honest homebuyers and the community at large through increased housing costs,” said United States Attorney Marsh. “We will continue to investigate and prosecute criminals who try to game the system by manipulating the mortgage loan industry and cheating on their taxes.”

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tiffany H. Eggers.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndfl/pr/husband-and-wife-sentence-prison-tax-fraud