TAMPA, FL — A Brandon man has been charged by indictment with one count of mail fraud in a federal case announced in Tampa.
Brandon Dutch Mendenhall, 46, of Brandon, faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison if convicted, according to the U.S. Justice Department.
The indictment also notifies Mendenhall that the United States intends to forfeit a house alleged to be traceable to proceeds of the offense.
Mendenhall operated RAD Diversified REIT and other investment funds that solicited people to invest in real estate properties through those entities, the department said.
Prosecutors allege that, beginning in November 2021, he applied for a home mortgage with a lender for the purchase of his personal residence.
During the mortgage application process, the indictment alleges, Mendenhall over-inflated his personal income and told the lender that business operating accounts for some of his investment funds were his personal income because he owned those businesses.
This information was material to the lender’s decision on whether to approve and fund the $1.2 million mortgage loan he was seeking, the indictment said.
As a result of those material misrepresentations, Mendenhall caused mortgage closing documents to be sent by mail to a title company in the Middle District of Florida, prosecutors said. That mailing forms the basis of the federal mail fraud charge described in the indictment.
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