逾8000万美元贷款面临损失风险：新泽西商人Seung Y. Lee提交数百份虚假房屋净值贷款申请，被判33个月监禁
美国司法部纽约东区联邦检察官办公室10月30日宣布，现年55岁、住在新泽西州 Fort Lee 的商人 Seung Y. Lee（又名 Kevin Lee）当天在 Brooklyn 的联邦法院被法官 Hector Gonzalez 判处33个月监禁，并被命令向政府没收841,549.50美元。Lee 此前已就一项串谋实施电信诈骗与银行诈骗的罪名认罪。
联邦检察官 Joseph Nocella, Jr. 表示：「被告策划骗局，以虚假借口诱使金融机构向其客户发放房屋净值信用额度，使贷款机构面临数百万美元的潜在损失。今天的判决表明，凡是利用银行系统诈骗牟利的人，都将为其罪行入狱服刑。」该判决由 Nocella 与联邦调查局（FBI）纽约外地办公室助理主任 James C. Barnacle, Jr. 共同宣布。
法庭文件显示，Lee 控制着位于 Fort Lee 的 Pinnacle Capital 公司。该公司直接或通过同伙，向希望申请房屋净值信用额度（HELOC）贷款的房主提供协助。HELOC 允许房主以房屋的可用净值作抵押借款，但金融机构要求借款人有足够的收入来偿还贷款；若借款人收入不足、无力偿还，就可能失去自己的房子。
司法部指出，Pinnacle 的许多 HELOC 申请人是亚裔移民社区的成员，他们没有收入、收入很低或收入无法核实，但名下房产尚有一定净值。2015年1月至2022年3月的大约七年间，Pinnacle 的员工在 Lee 的直接监督下，向纽约东区及其他地区的众多银行提交了含有虚假收入与就业信息的 HELOC 申请材料，包括伪造的税表、W-2 表格与工资单，谎称申请人有足够收入偿还贷款。
数以百计的这类虚假申请获得批准，使相关金融机构面临逾8,000万美元的潜在损失风险。Pinnacle 通常按每笔获批 HELOC 金额的1%收取费用，累计赚取约841,549.50美元，这也是法院此次命令没收的金额。
此案由纽约东区联邦检察官办公室的商业与证券诈骗科负责，助理联邦检察官 Shannon C. Jones 主办起诉，资产追缴科的助理联邦检察官 Tanisha Payne 负责没收事项。案件编号为 25-CR-21 (HG)。
Over $80 Million in Loans Put at Risk: New Jersey Businessman Seung Y. Lee Sentenced to 33 Months for Hundreds of Fraudulent HELOC Applications
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York announced on October 30 that Seung Y. Lee, also known as Kevin Lee, 55, of Fort Lee, New Jersey, was sentenced that day in federal court in Brooklyn by U.S. District Judge Hector Gonzalez to 33 months in prison, following his earlier guilty plea to one count of conspiring to commit wire fraud and bank fraud. Lee was also ordered to forfeit $841,549.50 to the government.
United States Attorney Joseph Nocella, Jr. said the defendant had engaged in a scheme to deceive financial institutions into extending home equity lines of credit to his clients under false pretenses, exposing lenders to millions of dollars in potential losses, and that the sentence showed those who exploit the banking system through fraud for financial gain will go to prison for their crimes. Nocella announced the sentence together with James C. Barnacle, Jr., Assistant Director in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's New York Field Office.
According to public filings and court proceedings, Lee controlled Pinnacle Capital, a company located in Fort Lee, New Jersey, which, directly and through co-conspirators, offered assistance to homeowners seeking home equity line of credit (HELOC) loans. A HELOC allows a homeowner to borrow against the available equity in the home, but lenders require the borrower to have sufficient income to repay; a borrower with insufficient income could lose the home.
The Justice Department said many of Pinnacle's HELOC applicants were members of the Asian-American immigrant community who had no, low or unverified income but owned homes with some equity value. From approximately January 2015 through March 2022, Pinnacle employees, under Lee's direct supervision, submitted HELOC applications to numerous banks in the Eastern District of New York and elsewhere containing false and fraudulent income and employment information, including tax returns, Forms W-2 and pay stubs.
Hundreds of the fraudulent applications were approved, exposing the financial institutions to a risk of loss in excess of $80 million. For each relevant fraudulent loan, Pinnacle typically charged and earned 1 percent of the approved HELOC amount, earning approximately $841,549.50 in total, the amount Lee was ordered to forfeit.
The case is being handled by the Office's Business and Securities Fraud Section. Assistant U.S. Attorney Shannon C. Jones is in charge of the prosecution, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Tanisha Payne of the Asset Recovery Section is handling forfeiture matters. The docket number is 25-CR-21 (HG).
Source: U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York press release
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：图：位于 Washington 的美国司法部罗伯特·肯尼迪大楼全景（GSM联邦机构固定图库）。照片：APK，CC BY 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / The Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building in Washington (GSM federal agency photo library). Photo: APK, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
