Putnam County Man Sentenced to Prison for FHA Fraud Scheme

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Jason Trador, 46, of Scott Depot, was sentenced today to one year and six months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $65,302.16 in restitution for making a false statement to federal agents, willfully overvaluing property on a loan application, and three counts of making a false statement to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

A federal jury convicted Trador of the five felony offenses on April 10, 2024, after a two-day trial. Evidence at trial proved that Trador fraudulently obtained a $223,870 home mortgage insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) from his then-employer, Victorian Finance LLC, a mortgage lending business. At the time he applied for the FHA loan in August 2018, Trador was delinquent on paying his federal taxes for a prior tax year. Because of the tax debt, Trador was not eligible for an FHA loan under existing FHA program rules. Trador deceived Victorian Finance into approving the application and the FHA into insuring the mortgage by providing a series of falsified documents including a falsified Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax transcript purporting to show a payoff of the delinquent $8,151 tax debt.

Trador also submitted three heavily edited bank statements to Victorian Finance. Each falsified bank statement substantially inflated the balances in Trador’s bank accounts. Two of the falsified statements reported balances of approximately $27,000 and $15,000 for Trador’s personal bank account when in fact the account had negative balances. Line items, such as for insufficient funds fees, were removed from the falsified bank statements and a line item was added to deceive Victorian Finance into believing that he had paid off the delinquent $8,151 tax debt. Evidence at trial proved the purported payoff never occurred and that Trador was still delinquent on the federal tax debt as of March 2024.

On September 4, 2018, Trador willfully overvalued his assets on a loan application when he signed a Uniform Residential Loan Application that included the false balances from the falsified bank statements.

On May 6, 2022, Trador lied to investigators with HUD’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) when they interviewed Trador at his Scott Depot residence about his application for the FHA-insured mortgage. Trador denied submitting false bank statements with his loan application, and blamed his fellow employees of the mortgage lending business for the inclusion of the false bank statements in the FHA loan file.

“Jason Trador was a loan officer with a duty to keep fraud out of the mortgage lending industry when he betrayed that position of trust and tricked his then-employer with his sophisticated criminal scheme,” said United States Attorney Will Thompson. “Since the fraud was discovered, Mr. Trador has chosen to attempt to deceive rather than own his mistakes. He lied to federal investigators. He took the stand and made over 30 false statements during his trial. He has shown no acceptance of responsibility or remorse for any of his crimes.”

Thompson made the announcement and commended the investigative work of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General (HUD-OIG) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

“Jason Trador took advantage of his knowledge of the mortgage industry to circumvent the rules and abused the position of trust he held as a loan officer and gatekeeper of FHA-insured loans.  He created and passed false documents allowing him to qualify for a loan he knew he would not otherwise qualify for,” said Special Agent-in-Charge Shawn Rice with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General.  “The sentence handed down today serves as a warning that significant penalties await those willing to commit fraud involving HUD-funded programs. HUD OIG remains committed to working with our prosecutorial and law enforcement partners to aggressively pursue those who engage in activities that threaten the integrity of HUD programs.”

“Fraud activity of any kind has far-reaching consequences, and showing no remorse underscores the seriousness of this crime. The FBI will not stand for individuals who abuse their position for personal gain at the expense of others,” said FBI Pittsburgh Special Agent in Charge Kevin Rojek. “The FBI remains resolute in safeguarding our financial landscape, providing a level playing field for honest consumers, and ensuring the public maintains trust in the integrity of our institutions.”

United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers imposed the sentence. Assistant United States Attorneys Andrew J. Tessman, Jonathan T. Storage and Erik S. Goes prosecuted the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on PACER by searching for Case No. 3:23-cr-117.

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