Down Payment Fraud Scheme Sentence in North Carolina

Rachel Dollar —  August 19, 2015 — Leave a comment

Howard Goldsmith, real estate developer, 41, Raleigh, North Carolina, was sentenced to a 30 month term of imprisonment for his role in a down payment fraud scheme.  According to documents filed in Court, between August of 2006 and February of 2009, Goldsmith and his conspirators carried out a fraud upon various banks and lenders using entities Goldsmith owned or controlled, including Ganyard Farm Construction and Baldwin Estates

After developing various properties through Ganyard Farm Construction and Baldwin Estates, Goldsmith and others fraudulently supplied down payment funds to unqualified straw buyers on numerous loans.  The fraudulent down payments were not identified on the HUD-1 Settlement Statements that were supplied to the lenders at the time of closing.  Goldsmith and others also paid kickbacks to various individuals who assisted in orchestrating the transactions in the down payment fraud scheme.

Goldsmith was charged by Information on August 6, 2014 with one count of Conspiracy to Commit Wire and Bank Fraud.  He plead guilty to the charged on October 1, 2014.  Goldsmith was also sentenced to 3 years of supervised release following his prison term, ordered to pay $808,025 in restitution and to forfeit $1,050,400.50 and 9 properties located in Wake and Durham counties.

Investigation of this case was conducted by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of the Inspector General, with the assistance of the Raleigh Police Department.  Assistant United States Attorney William M. Gilmore represented the United States.

Rachel Dollar

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