Fraudulent mortgages used to buy Canadian drug houses

Broker sentenced to one year in jail

Inman News®

A Canadian mortgage broker has been sentenced to a year in jail for submitting forged documents with loan applications, some of which were used to buy homes that were used in indoor marijuana-growing operations.

Danh Van Nguyen of Surrey, British Columbia, pleaded guilty in May to six counts of using forged documents to arrange fraudulent mortgages. Prosecutors alleged that Nguyen's Vancouver-based Express Mortgages used fake letters of employment and pay slips.

Real estate agents Hoang Ngoc Ngo and Linh Phu Ngo have also been charged in the case, the Tri-City News of British Columbia reported. Ngo pleaded guilty to three counts in June.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency this summer raided 21 Sacramento, Calif.-area homes that were converted into pot-growing operations. One real estate agent acted as buyer's agent for most of the homes, but has not been accused of wrongdoing.

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Submitted by Cristian Star on October 8, 2008 - 8:40am.

Although the broker is not an addict, I would have sentenced him to 1 year in a drug rehab so he can see how drugs could harm people so bad that he'd never imagine.