A Canadian mortgage broker has been sentenced to a year in jail for submitting forged documents with loan applications, some of which were used to buy homes that were used in indoor marijuana-growing operations.
Danh Van Nguyen of Surrey, British Columbia, pleaded guilty in May to six counts of using forged documents to arrange fraudulent mortgages. Prosecutors alleged that Nguyen’s Vancouver-based Express Mortgages used fake letters of employment and pay slips.
Real estate agents Hoang Ngoc Ngo and Linh Phu Ngo have also been charged in the case, the Tri-City News of British Columbia reported. Ngo pleaded guilty to three counts in June.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency this summer raided 21 Sacramento, Calif.-area homes that were converted into pot-growing operations. One real estate agent acted as buyer’s agent for most of the homes, but has not been accused of wrongdoing.
