An executive of Olympia Mortgage Corp. imprisoned for defrauding Fannie Mae

Leib Pinter, 64, a former executive of Olympia Mortgage Corp., was sentenced today to 97 months in prison for perpetrating a crime to defraud Fannie Mae pertaining to mortgage loans that Fannie Mae owned, but were refinanced through Olympia, reported Benton J. Campbell, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

Apart from his being imprisoned Pinter was also ordered to pay more than $43 million in compensation to the victims of his scheme. The sentencing procedure was held before U.S. District Judge Sandra L. Townes at the U.S. Courthouse in Brooklyn, and followed Pinter's plea of guilty to a wire fraud conspiracy on Sept. 11, 2008.

Olympia, formerly headquartered in Brooklyn, originated and serviced mortgage loans owned by Fannie Mae. Olympia refinanced a Fannie Mae mortgage loan, Fannie Mae typically wire transferred the money to an Olympia bank account. After this Olympia was instructed to pay off the underlying mortgage loan by transferring the outstanding balance to Fannie Mae. However Pinter decided to misappropriate these proceeds for the benefit of Olympia. When the fraudulent scheme was revealed, Fannie Mae held nearly $44 million in unpaid principal in refinanced mortgage loans.