SACRAMENTO, Calif. —Mark F. Friend, 62, of Stockton, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Garland E. Burrell Jr. to two years and four months in prison and ordered to pay $1,889,379 in restitution for conspiracy to commit bank fraud in relation to a mortgage fraud scheme, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.
According to court documents, between September 2006 and March 2007, while working for National City Mortgage, then a division of National City Bank, in Stockton, Friend arranged loans for borrowers that contained numerous falsehoods. He submitted false loan applications and other documents, and he made down payments on behalf of borrowers who did not have enough money, and then was repaid out of escrow after the loans were funded. The borrowers eventually stopped making payments on the loans, and National City Bank and other entities sustained losses amounting to $1,889,379.
Judge Burrell ordered Friend to self-surrender and begin his incarceration on January 13, 2017.
This case was the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney John K. Vincent prosecuted the case.