Man gets prison in mortgage fraud scheme
A man charged in connection with Operation Stolen Dreams, a nationwide crackdown aimed at combating mortgage fraud, was sentenced Wednesday in Las Vegas to 27 months in prison.
Michael Capodici was indicted with three other defendants in June 2010. They were accused of devising a mortgage fraud scheme from about August 2005 to May 2006.
Authorities alleged the defendants were involved in 12 fraudulent real estate transactions involving nine homes sold in Las Vegas.
“The homes were either flipped — sold twice within a short period of time — or were the subject of a foreclosure,” according to a statement from the U.S. attorney’s office in Las Vegas.
The majority of the homes sold for more than $600,000, and the approximate value of the mortgages for the 12 transactions was $8 million, according to the statement.
Capodici pleaded guilty in September to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud. He admitted that he and others caused false information to be included on loan applications for four properties.
U.S. District Judge Kent Dawson sentenced Capodici, who is in custody, and scheduled a restitution hearing for this month.
Capodici must spend the first six months after his release on home confinement with location monitoring, the judge ruled.
Dawson dismissed the charges against two of Capodici’s co-defendants, Michael Blair and real estate agent Linda Marie Kot, in September, days before Capodici entered his guilty plea. Records show that prosecutors had requested the dismissal “in the interest of justice.”
Contact reporter Carri Geer Thevenot at cgeer@reviewjournal.com or 702-384-8710.
