Dearborn Man Pleads Guilty in Mortgage Fraud Using Straw Buyer

A Dearborn man who used a straw buyer to purchase a home has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud in U.S. District Court, the government said in a news release Wednesday.

Marwan Haidar, 34, of Dearborn, entered the guilty plea before U.S. District Court Judge David M. Lawson. Haidar faces up to 30 years and fines totaling $1 million when he is sentenced on June 8.

The plea agreement was announced by Jarod J. Koopman, special agent in charge of the IRS’s Criminal Investigation Division; U.S. Attorney Barbara L. McQuade; and FBI Special Agent in Charge Paul M. Abbate.

According to court records, Haider arranged in October 2006 for a straw buyer to purchase a Dearborn residence for him using two mortgage loans in the amounts of $742,280 and $185,570.

The government said Haidar conspired with the straw buyer, who was not qualified to obtain credit, by furnishing lenders with a series of false assertions in the mortgage loan applications – including false statements that the straw buyer owned a business named Complete Car Care and maintained a bank account with a balance of $93,000.

Based on these false statements, and others, the financial institution approved the straw buyer for the mortgages and funded the loans for the purchase of the Dearborn residence. Ultimately, the straw buyer defaulted on the loans, causing the lenders losses of $566,300.

Koopman said in the news release that mortgage fraud has been a significant problem in Michigan, and “is a crime that victimizes not just the financial institution and its customers in the form of higher fees, but neighborhood property values.”

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