12:51pm

http://applevalley.patch.com/articles/apple-valley-woman-charged-in-alleged-42m-mortgage-fraud-scheme

Sheri Lynn Delich, 45, was charged with conspiracy to commit mortgage fraud and money laundering in relation to a multi-million-dollar mortgage scheme in Minnetonka, according to the U.S. Attorneys office.

Three people, including one Apple Valley woman, were charged Thursday in federal court in St. Paul for allegedly creating a scheme to defraud mortgage lenders out of $4.2 million, related to the marketing of Cloud Nine Sky Lofts condominium development in Minnetonka.

Sheri Lynn Delich, 45, of Apple Valley, was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit mortgage fraud and one count of money laundering, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorneys office. My Dinh Lam, 30, of Minneapolis, and Ashley Elizabeth Prasil, 26, of Eden Prairie, each were charged with one count of conspiracy to commit mortgage fraud.

The defendants allegedly found buyers to apply for mortgage loans to buy more than 40 Cloud Nine condos, the release said; the defendants and buyers allegedly knew that each buyer would receive a 30-percent kickback of the purchase price for a condo.

The forms given to lenders reportedly didn't disclose the kickbacks, the release said. Those kickback payments allegedly were returned to the buyers through an account Delich controlled, and funded with loan money.

Delich allegedly skimmed off a percentage of the kickback money for herself and others and then gave the rest of the amount to the buyer, which also was not disclosed to the lenders, the release said.

More than 80 percent of the loans have since defaulted, according to the release; $4.2 million was transferred to the accounts Delich allegedly controlled, and Delich also allegedly accepted a $120,123 wire transfer of fraud funds.

Delich faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for money laundering, and the conspiracy to commit mortgage fraud charges could bring a maximum five-year prison sentence. A Federal District Court judge will hear the case and determine the penalties.

The case stemmed from an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Division.