Longtime lawyer pleads guilty in $33.6M real-estate fraud involving bogus court filings
In recent years, a number of real estate lawyers have been embroiled in mortgage fraud cases.
But Arizona attorney Jeffrey Greenberg went farther than most, federal prosecutors say: He not only used his legal expertise to help co-conspirators get dubious loans on multi-million dollar Southern California homes but also to file bogus lien releases in San Diego County. That enabled the defendants to take out new loans against the same properties, by making it appear as though the former loans had been paid off. All told, the fraud added up to $33.6 million, according to authorities.
Last week, Greenberg, 66, pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges in federal court in San Diego, along with a co-defendant, reports the Arizona Daily Star. Both agreed to forfeit profits from the fraud and pay restitution.
The charges also concern what a U.S. Department of Justice news release describes as an “equally massive fraud” in Tucson, Arizona, involving the co-defendant’s real estate investment company. Purporting to need loans to rehabilitate real estate, those involved in the scheme instead used the tens of millions of dollars they obtained for personal expenses, prosecutors say.
Money from both schemes went through Greenberg’s attorney trust accounts.
The Coronado Patch, LawFuel and the San Diego Reader also have stories.
News articles don’t include any comment from Greenberg or his counsel. He has been practicing law in Arizona since 1983, with no disciplinary record, the Daily Star reports.
Sentencing is scheduled in August.
