Ohio

Straw-Buyer Trio Guilty of Bank Fraud 

Three Ohio residents pled guilty this week to conspiracy to commit bank fraud with real estate loans during the course of a straw-buyer scam running from 2005 through 2007. According to the Department of Justice, licensed real estate agent Todd Gongwer, along with Lance Parker and Joel Lee — all residents of Ohio — purchased luxury homes for falsely inflated prices from real estate builder Thomas Parenteau in exchange for kickbacks. Parenteau’s trial, along with those of his immediate associates, begins July 2009. The trio will not be sentenced until after that case is concluded.