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Two more members of Dorchester condo-flipping ring get prison

Two Virginia residents who recruited bogus buyers in Michael David Scott's scheme to defraud banks in Dorchester and Roxbury condo deals have each been sentenced to two years in federal prison.

Jerrold Fowler, 31, and Thursa Raetz, 40, pleaded guilty to their roles in the scheme earlier this year; they were sentenced last week in US District Court in Boston.

Each will also have to pay more than $10 million in restitution and forfeitures for their work between 2006 and 2008, the US Attorney's office in Boston reports.

Earlier this month, Scott was sentenced to more than 11 years in federal prison for orchestrating a scheme in which he and several brokers and lawyers would purchase apartment buildings, convert them into condos, then arrange for straw purchasers to buy them in exchange for a fee. The buyers would then disappear, leaving Scott and associates with the proceeds from the sales and lenders holding the bag.

According to the US Attorney's office:

Scott, Raetz, and Fowler recruited the straw buyers with promises that they would not have to make down payments, pay any funds at the closing, or be responsible for mortgage payments, and with assurances that they also would share in profits when the units were resold. In order to obtain mortgage loans in the names of the straw buyers, Scott, Raetz, and Fowler submitted mortgage loan applications that falsely represented key information, including the buyers’ income, personal assets, down payment, and intention to reside in the condominiums. The mortgage lenders (nine national mortgage companies and one local bank) were led to believe that the straw buyers had made substantial down payments and paid substantial sums at closings.

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