Maple Grove Real Estate Appraiser Indicted for Alleged Role in Mortgage Fraud Scheme

Real estate appraiser Ryan Daryl Krutzig, 31, of Maple Grove and real estate agent Jesse Scott Hoffman, 32, of St. Cloud, were charged with five counts of wire fraud in federal court Wednesday, June 15, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Krutzig was also charged with four counts of mail fraud and two counts of money laundering.

Krutzig owned and operated US Appraisal Management, located in Maple Grove, and Hoffman worked at Stellar Realty.

The indictment alleges Krutzig and Hoffman obtained mortgage loan proceeds through fraud. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, they also “allegedly concealed payments to themselves from those proceeds by diverting them to buyers and others, including Thomas Hunter and Frederick Deen, co-owners of Legacy Lending, a mortgage brokerage company.”

Deen was sentenced to 24 months in prison for his role in March 2010. Thomas was sentenced in September of 2010 to 40 months in prison.

According to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, if convicted Krutzig and Hoffman face a potential maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each wire fraud count. Krutzig could also face 20 years in prison on each mail fraud count and ten years on each money laundering count.

The FBI investigated the case.