Los Angeles Man Faces Additional Federal Charges

BOSTON - A former Cambridge resident was charged today with defrauding mortgage lenders.

Mark J. Zimny, 42, was previous indicted on five counts of wire fraud, five counts of unlawful money laundering and two counts of federal tax violations. Today’s superseding indictment charges Zimny with two additional counts of bank fraud in connection with real estate mortgage loans. The previous charges, filed in January 2013, allege that Zimny defrauded business clients, engaged in unlawful monetary transactions and failed to report income on federal tax returns.

The superseding indictment alleges that Zimny owned and operated a business called IvyAdmit Consulting Associates that claimed to assist students in obtaining admission to elite American prep schools, colleges and universities. Zimny told a couple from Hong Kong that if they provided him large funds to give to schools in New England for "development contributions" he could influence admissions decisions to the schools on behalf of their two children. The indictment alleges that Zimny took the funds but never delivered them to schools as promised, and instead used the funds, in excess of $600,000, for his own purposes.

The new bank fraud charges allege that Zimny set out to defraud mortgage lenders by using misrepresentations and false documents in his loan applications to purchase real estate in Massachusetts, New York and California. Additionally, it is alleged that Zimny failed to report income he received in 2008 and 2009.

If convicted, Zimny faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine on each count of wire fraud; 10 years in prison, two years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine on each count of money laundering; 30 years in prison, five years of supervised release and a $1 million fine on each count of bank fraud; and three years in prison, one year of supervised release and a $250,000 fine on each count of tax violation.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Shelly Binkowski, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; and William P. Offord, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston, made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by Victor A. Wild of Ortiz’s Economic Crimes Unit and Sean R. Delaney of the Department of Justice’s Tax Division.

The details contained in the indictment are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.