March 29, 2024
HUD fraud hits $29 million, lender sentenced
RIVERSIDE--The former president of Mortgage One Corporation in Hesperia was sentenced Monday to 13 years in federal prison for defrauding the Department of Housing and Urban Development and private lenders.

John Varner, 56, fraudulently obtained hundreds of federally insured loans and sold the mortgages to private lenders in a scheme that resulted in tens of millions of dollars in losses to the housing agency.

Varner was sentenced to 156 months in prison by District Judge Virginia Phillips in Riverside. Judge Phillips also ordered Varner to pay $29,749,239 in restitution.

Varner was convicted last spring after a 4-month trial. (INT)
Story Date: February 4, 2010
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