Two men have recently pleaded guilty during separate appearances before the District Court in the Eastern District of Wisconsin. The guilty plea’s are the result of an investigation by the FBI who are continuing their enquiries.

On May 15, 2007 Lake Geneva mortgage broker James J. Lytle pleaded guilty to an information which accused him of using straw borrowers and falsifying information in connection with mortgage loans taken on at least 19 properties in Walworth County, WI. Click here for the information and then here for the Plea Agreement

Lytle’s plea agreement states that he fabricated the identity and creditworthiness of the borrowers and by inflating sales prices he made between $3,000 and $20,000 per transaction when swindling eight mortgage lending companies out of about $4 million.

On June 20, 2007 Jose Valadez agreed to plead to a single count of wire fraud for using another man’s identifying information and acting as a straw buyer in the sale of a home, in a $300,000 loan brokered by Lytle. Click here for the information and then here for the Plea Agreement.

Valadez was paid $1,500 to pose as someone else at the closing of a loan taken on 900 Inlet Shore Drive, Delavan. He used a falsified WI identification card to prove his identity. No payments were ever made on the mortgage.

Mike Heine at the Janesville Gazette reports that “FBI agents searched Valadez Furniture on Feb. 19, 2006, seeking employment records, W-2 forms and correspondence between the owners, managers or employees of the furniture store and Lake Geneva mortgage broker James J. Lytle, according to the search warrant.

The FBI agent who led the investigation believes Jose Valadez owns the store, according to the search warrant affidavit. People at Valadez Furniture are suspected of providing false information to verify employment of several home buyers, whose names were used in fraudulent real estate transactions, according to the affidavit.”

According to his plea agreement Valadez is co-operating with the investigation into other people connected to the case.