Former Minnesota Housing Repair Contractor Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud Scheme Affecting U.S. Financial Institutions

A former housing repair contractor pleaded guilty to committing fraud, the Department of Justice announced today.

Patric G. Monahan pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in the U.S. District Court in Minneapolis today.  The former repair contractor admitted to participating in a scheme to defraud financial institutions in connection with foreclosed properties the financial institutions owned in the Minneapolis area.  Sentencing will be set at a later date.

According to the plea agreement, Monahan paid an unnamed realtor over $85,000 to steer housing repair contracts to Monahan and companies affiliated with him.  Monahan participated in this scheme from in or about January 2008 until in or about February 2014.  

 “Patric Monahan knowingly participated in a long-standing scheme to defraud U.S. financial institutions,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brent Snyder of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division.  “We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to protect U.S. companies from fraud, wherever we find it.”

 “The plea filed today reflects the FBI’s steadfast commitment to ferreting out all forms of financial institution fraud and sends a strong message for those seeking new ways to steal from banks: you will be caught and held accountable for your crimes,” said Special Agent in Charge Richard T. Thornton of the Minneapolis office of the FBI.

This is the first case involving fraud and kickbacks relating to repair contracts for properties in the Minneapolis area owned by financial institutions.  The maximum penalty for wire fraud is 30 years of imprisonment and a fine of $1,000,000.  The maximum fine may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims of the crime, if either of those amounts is greater than the statutory maximum fine.

Today’s plea is the result of an ongoing federal investigation of housing repair contracts in the Minneapolis area.  The investigation is being conducted by the Antitrust Division’s Chicago Office and the FBI’s Minneapolis Division.  Anyone with information concerning suspicious activity relating to housing repairs performed in the Minneapolis area should contact the Antitrust Division’s Chicago Office at 312-984-7200 or visit www.justice.gov/atr/contact/newcase.htm.