Springfield man sentenced for mortgage fraud

A Springfield man was sentenced last week to prison time for a multimillion-dollar mortgage fraud scheme.

Richard Gillette, 30, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Richard Dorr to two years in federal prison without parole and was ordered to pay $1.29 million in restitution, according to news release from the office of the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Missouri.

In May, Gillette pleaded guilty to money laundering related to a mortgage fraud scheme. In his guilty plea, Gillette admitted he engaged in monetary transactions involving funds derived from criminal actions.

In May 2006, Gillette received two loans totaling $1.13 million from Homecomings Financial to refinance existing loans on his residence. On the loan applications, Gillette indicated his monthly income was $35,000, but it was actually much less than the claimed amount, the release said.

After paying off the existing lenders for his residence, Gillette used the remaining $282,530 in loan proceeds to purchase personal items, including a $142,000 Lamborghini.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James Kelleher and was investigated by Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation and the FBI.

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