Oakdale Man Indicted in Connection with Mortgage Fraud

An Oakdale real-estate appraiser was indicted Wednesday in federal court in St. Paul as an alleged co-conspirator in a mortgage fraud scheme, according to a press release.

Bryan Joseph Lenton, 31, allegedly intentionally appraised 15 homes in north Minneapolis and St. Paul far above their actual value as part of the fraud, according to the United States Department of Justice press release.

Lenton is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit mortgage fraud through interstate wire and 10 counts of wire fraud, the release says.

In December of 2005, John Anthony Spencer, 35, an Albertville mortgage broker, allegedly recruited Lenton to appraise five condominium units on Fisk Avenue in St. Paul above their value, according to the press release. Then Spencer allegedly recruited a straw buyer (someone who agrees to purchase a property in their name on behalf of someone else, typically in exchange for cash) to buy the units based on a fraudulent loan application, according to the press release.

Spencer and Lenton allegedly did the same thing in April of 2006 with six single-family homes in North Minneapolis and four condominium units on Dayton Avenue, the press release says.

If convicted, Lenton faces a potential maximum penalty of five years in prison on the conspiracy charge and 20 years on each wire fraud count, according to the press release.