A Libertyville man stole about $3.2 million from lenders in mortgage fraud schemes involving the sale of properties in Englewood and nearby areas, according to an indictment against the man released today.
Conrad Ulz, 73, is charged with wire fraud used to obtain mortgages and making false statements on loan applications. He could face 30 years in prison on each fraud count, and would have to pay back the money he stole, according to prosecutors.
Ulz worked with buys of properties to falsely obtain loans starting in 2007, fabricating information including “the sales price of properties, the source of the down payments and the buyers’ employment, income assets and intention to occupy the property,” according to the indictment.
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Ulz found people with good credit whom he promised to pay for buying the properties, and whom he promised would not have to use their own money in the transactions, according to the indictment.
The indictment does not name the straw buyers who participated in the scheme and have not been charged.
Ulz defrauded Dream House Mortgage Corp., Franklin American Mortgage, Assurity Financial Services, IndyMac Bank, Washington Mutual Bank, and HSBC Mortgage Corporation, according to his indictment.
Ulz had the straw buyers claim to be paying what appear to be inflated prices for Englewood-area properties. In one case, a two-flat style building in the 6100 block of South Wood Street that had last sold for $135,000 in October 2007 after a foreclosure was claimed to have brought a price of $355,000 in early 2008, according to public records. In late 2007, the Ulz scheme obtained a $321,000 loan for the sale, according to the indictment.
Ulz used properties in the following blocks in the scheme, according to the indictment:
5700 South Sangamon Street; 6100 South Carpenter Street; 5000 South Ada Street; 6700 South May Street; 6800 South Wood Street; 5500 South Green Street; 5900 South Ada Street; 6600 South Justine Avenue; and 6100 South May Street.
A court date for Ulz has not yet been set.