Naugatuck Man Pleads Guilty in Federal Mortgage Scheme

A Naugatuck man is facing up to 40 years in prison after pleading guilty in federal court to charges of defrauding mortgage lenders $7 million in a massive property scheme involving federal funds.

Borough resident Robert Ilunga, 48, entered guilty pleas in U.S. District Court on in Hartford on Wednesday to counts of a conspiracy to commit wire fraud and a conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with a mortgage fraud scheme that involved more than 40 properties in Bridgeport.

According to a press release from the Department of Justice, Ilunga conspired with a pair of New York residents, Winston and Marleen Shillingford, in obtaining fraudulent mortgages for the purchase of the multi-family properties in Bridgeport. The Naugatuck man operated a real estate company, Waikele Properties Corp. with offices in both Bidgeport and Garden City, N.Y., from 2001 to August 2011.

As part of the scheme, Ilunga, the Shillingfords and others “purchased existing multi-family houses, and vacant parcels of land and erected new houses on them to sell,” the press releases stated.

The co-conspirators then recruited buyers to purchase the properties, acted as the buyers’ real estate agent and assisted the buyers in applying for residential mortgage loans to purchase the houses. They then prepared loan applications for the buyers that included fraudulent information concerning, among other things, the buyers’ employment, income, assets and liabilities, previous property ownership and intention to make the properties their primary residences, the release stated.

On top of that, the schemers provided false and fraudulent supporting documentation, such as false letters from fake employers, false earning statements and fraudulent bank records, federal authorities said.

“Some of those loan applications were submitted to banks that received funding under the Troubled Asset Relief Program,” the press release stated.

After the loans got approval, the illicit proceeds were wired into Waikele Properties’ bank account and then transferred to Ilunga, the Shillingfords and others. Some of the proceeds then went back into the continual mortgage fraud scheme, federal authorities said.

Nobody ever occupied these homes as their primary residences, despite the representations made on the loan applications. As a result, the mortgages defaulted, and lenders “suffered more than $7 million losses,” the federal government said.

Ilunga is due to appear back in federal court on April 5 where he will be sentenced. The government is also seeking the forfeiture of 20 properties in Bridgeport and the $26,372 seuzed from his real estate company’s bank account. The suspect remains incarcerated until his court date.

Winston and Marleen Shillingford have pleaded guilty to the same charges and await sentencing.

Multiple state and federal agencies assisted in this investigation, including the FBI, the Office of the Special Inspector General, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Connecticut Mortgage Fraud Task Force.

To report suspected illicit activity involving TARP, dial the SIGTARP Hotline at 1-877-SIG-2009 (1-877-744-2009).