Mortgage broker sentenced in fraud

Jerry Craig Sr., the former owner of Phoenix-based Spectrum Financial, has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud for residential deals involving mortgage fraud, straw buyers and lying to lenders.

He was sentenced to one year in prison and ordered to pay $2.4 million in restitution to First Fidelity Bank.

U.S. District Judge Roslyn O. Silver on Wednesday approved the plea deal, which was reached in late February.

Craig is well-known in Arizona’s mortgage industry. He was the 2006 president of the Arizona Association of Mortgage Brokers.

The plea deal comes after a 2011 federal grand jury indictment against Craig Sr. and son Jerry Craig Jr. on 16 counts of wire fraud and three counts of false statements to a federally insured lender.

They were accused of lying to lenders about mortgage information, including who owned homes and who was the borrower on loans. Spectrum Financial filed for bankruptcy in 2007 and is no longer in business. 
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