Three Men Indicted in Houston for Mortgage Fraud

United States Attorney, Tim Johnson announced the indictment of three individuals on February 4th in regard to a scheme to defraud mortgage lending institutions of over seven million dollars that involved homes in the Houston, Texas area.

Owner of Catco Homes, Ming Shan Zhu, and former owner of Future Mortgage Company Inc. Alvin Mark Eiland and Former employee of Future Mortgage Company Inc., Gary Leonard Robinson II were all charged with nineteen counts of fraud and money laundering.

Mr. Zhu, age 57; Mr. Eiland, age 45 and Mr. Robinson, age 28 have all posted bond and have been released awaiting arraignment.

The indictment against the three states that they paid cash to individuals with excellent credit in order to use their names to purchase properties in the Houston area. The indictment states that the men completed fraudulent mortgage loan applications and submitted them to mortgage lenders in an attempt to defraud the mortgage lenders and profit. The indictment also alleges that the men set up fraudulent companies and represented to mortgage lenders that these companies provided renovation or repair work on the properties being financed. The men when the properties were approved for closing knowingly caused title companies to disburse loan proceeds to companies they knew did not exist.

Mr. Zhu, Mr. Eiland and Mr. Robinson each face a maximum sentence of twenty years in prison on each count in the case with additional fines.

The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation and The Federal Bureau of Investigation.