John Hoose, 49, founder of Lavida Massage, based in Commerce Township, Michigan, and his brother, Scott Hoose, 35, of Hartland, Michigan, were sentenced on December 15, 2011 to serve 18 months and 12 months in custody, respectively, for their roles in a mortgage fraud scheme while employed at the Brighton, Michigan office of Shore Mortgage, United States Attorney Barbara L. McQuade announced today.

Imposing the sentence was Senior U.S. District Judge John Corbett O'Meara.

According to information provided to the court at the guilty plea hearings, from November 23, 2001 through January 2, 2004, John Hoose, while employed as the office manager at Shore/Brighton, a mortgage lender, instructed and oversaw the preparation of a number of loan files which he knew would be submitted to the Department of Agriculture Rural Development Administration [USDA/RDA], and which he knew contained false information pertaining to the borrowers' employment and income in order to qualify them for USDA/RDA guaranteed mortgage loans under the Guaranteed Single Family Home Loans program [GSFHL] that they were, in reality, not eligible to receive. The GSFHL was designed to help lower-income families purchase homes in rural areas. During a portion of that period, Scott Hoose was employed as a loan originator at Shore/Brighton and, working under the supervision of his brother, John
Hoose, also knowingly compiled false loan files for the same purpose. John Hoose directly participated in the compilation and submission of loan files resulting in losses to the USDA/RDA of over $1 million. The loan files compiled and submitted by Scott Hoose resulted in losses of over $570,000. Overall, guaranteed loans based on false statements generated by Shore/Brighton cost the USDA/RDA over $2 million.

In addition to the 18 month custodial sentence, the Court ordered John Hoose to pay restitution of $1,010,467.06, with a lump sum of $50,000 due immediately, as well as a fine of $20,000. Scott Hoose, who must serve 12 months and one day in custody, was also ordered to pay restitution of $570,732.52. Each defendant will serve three years on supervised release following their release from custody. They remain free on bond pending their designation to a Bureau of Prisons institution.

The investigation of this case was conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Inspector General.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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