Howlett gets 41 months in Federal Prison

Acting United States Attorney, Kent S. Robinson announced that Lee Howlett, age 46 and a former Portland, Oregon broker had been sentenced to forty one months in federal prison and three years of supervised release. Mr. Howlett was found guilty in a three million seven hundred thousand dollar mortgage loan application scam.

Mr. Howlett according to court documents used one million three hundred thousand dollars of the over three million seven hundred thousand dollars for personal use. He falsified he wages, sources of down payments, and the identities of both the purchasers and the buyers in mortgage loan applications that were submitted to lenders for approval. Fourteen fraudulent loans were submitted in this manner between 2003 and 2005. The loans were also submitted with fraudulent mortgage appraisals on the properties involved. The appraisals that were submitted were fraudulent in that the appraiser on the appraisal did not exist.

Attorney Robinson believes that Mr. Howlett is a serial con-artist and that his conduct was that of a typical mortgage fraudster. He attributes Mr. Howlett’s practice of doing business to why the mortgage and financial industries have been in such a crisis over the last two years.

In another separate and unrelated case involving mortgage fraud; Michigan United States Attorney General, Michael Cox announced the Rita Gosselin from Grosse lle, Michigan has been indicted on charges of racketeering, obtaining money under fraudulent pretense.

Ms. Gosselin is alleged to have been involved in a five hundred thousand dollar real estate investment Ponzi scheme in which over twenty investors lost money as a result of the scam.

Ms. Gosselin is reported to have masterminded the scheme and was in the business of scamming investors between April of 2007 and September of 2008. Ms. Gosselin informed investors that she was in the business of purchasing foreclosed and properties from distressed homeowners in bulk and then renovating those properties for resale at a profit. Ms. Gosselin provided the investors with fraudulent promissory notes as security for the investments she reportedly was purchasing. She also informed investors that they would receive high returns via monthly payments on the notes they invested in. Her Ponzi scheme caused investors thousands of dollars.

Attorney General Cox told reporters that Ms. Gosselin took advantage of Michigan families during a time of economic crisis and schemes like Ms. Gosselin’s will not be tolerated in the state of Michigan.

Ms. Gosselin was arranged before Judge Michael McNally from the 33rd District Court in Woodhaven, Michigan and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on December 15th of this year. Ms. Gosselin has been released on a three hundred thousand dollar bail bond.