Minneapolis man admits his part in $4.9 million mortgage swindle

Last update: August 14, 2008 - 12:32 AM

A 33-year-old Minneapolis man has admitted in Hennepin County District Court to his part in a mortgage fraud ring carried out at a Brooklyn Park mortgage company.

Loan officer Andrae Bellfield pleaded guilty Tuesday to four counts of theft by swindle exceeding $35,000.

He admitted to submitting false information to lenders to obtain mortgage loans. Under the agreement, Bellfield will be sentenced to two years in prison. He also agreed to testify in cases against Universal Mortgage President Donald Walthall and loan officer Marlin Pratt, who are scheduled for trial in early September.

Bellfield, Walthall and Pratt were among several people charged in December in a $4.9 million mortgage fraud case involving at least 24 homes in Minneapolis and Golden Valley.

County Attorney Mike Freeman said the scheme involved falsifying employment histories, incomes, net worths and buyers' intentions to live in the homes. Homes were resold for far more than Universal's agents bought them for, according to records.

All but one of the properties involved are in Minneapolis; the other is in Golden Valley. All but one wound up in foreclosure, he said. The other was given back to the bank.

PAUL WALSH

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