CHICAGO (AP) — A suburban Chicago lawyer who hosted a syndicated radio talk show has been found guilty of mortgage fraud in a scheme to defraud lenders out of nearly $10 million.
A federal jury took less than an hour Friday to find Warren Ballentine guilty.
Ballentine was accused of conspiring to secure more than two dozen fraudulent mortgage loans.
The Chicago Sun-Times reports (https://bit.ly/1t9cwNw) prosecutors showed Ballentine, who broadcast from Durham, North Carolina, and others used straw buyers to secure mortgages on 28 properties they never intended to live in.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros told jurors loan applications Ballentine submitted were “shot through with lies.”
Defense attorney Lewis Myers says the verdict against Ballentine will be appealed.
The 43-year-old’s radio show was broadcast online after being dropped from syndication last year.
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