The perpetrators of a Miami-based condo fraud scheme entered guilty pleas and await federal prison sentences.
Developer Luis Michael Mendez, 44, and Kinetic Mortgage Group owner Wilkie Perez, 39, each pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud. Mendez admitted to selling units in family-controlled developments to straw buyers. Perez copped to submitting false loan information about buyers in exchange for payments from Mendez.
Lenders lost more than $3 million from the scheme, according to the plea agreement, as cited by the South Florida Business Journal. Federal authorities also indicted four other individuals accused of participating in the scheme. All four entered not guilty pleas and await the Sept. 8 beginning of their trials. [South Florida Business Journal] — Eric Kalis