Internet Radio Host Lawyer Guilty in Mortgage Scam

An attorney from Country Club Hills with an Internet radio talk show was found guilty of running mortgage fraud scams in Chicago and the south suburbs.

Warren Ballentine, 43, who now lives in North Carolina, was convicted of bank fraud, making false statements to lenders, mail fraud and wire fraud. The jury deliberated less than an hour yesterday before returning its guilty verdict in Chicago’s federal court.

Ballentine will remain free on bond while he awaits sentencing in January. In addition to prison time and fines, he is on the hook for a possible forfeiture payment of more than $9.7 million.

For about three months between late 2004 and early 2005, “Ballentine schemed with others to fraudulently cause various lenders to make at least eight loans totaling approximately $3.6 million by making false statements in loan documents … concerning the buyers’ intention to occupy the homes they purchased as a primary residence,” according to a statement released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

“Ballentine then represented buyers recruited by others at real estate closings, knowing that they had signed and submitted false documents and had been fraudulently qualified to purchase the properties in Chicago, Monee, Woodridge, and Mokena,” the statement said.

For more than a year after this, “Ballentine engaged in a similar, separate scheme with others to fraudulently cause various lenders to make at least 20 loans totaling approximately $6.1 million by making false statements in mortgage documents, including the buyers’ intention to occupy the homes as a primary residence,” the statement said. “Ballentine also represented these buyers at closings, knowing that they had been fraudulently qualified for the loans based on false documents, including some that Ballentine advised them to sign at closings.”

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