Pair heading to prison over bank fraud scheme

[nitpicker]

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/article/Pair-heading-to-prison-over-bank-fraud-scheme-10987900.php

Pair heading to prison over bank fraud scheme
By L.M. Sixel |
March 8, 2017 | Updated: March 8, 2017 10:01pm

A federal jury in Houston convicted a former banker and his stepmother of operating a scheme in which they used credit cards with high limits to advance cash to investors to buy into the family's real estate project as well as make other unauthorized loans - for a fee. The jury returned its verdict late Tuesday after a four-week fraud trial against Carlos Wydler, a former California banker, and his stepmother, Leyla Wydler, a mortgage broker in Houston, according to court records. The jury deliberated seven hours.

Both Wydlers face up to 30 years in federal prison after they were convicted of bank fraud, false statements on credit applications, wire fraud and mail fraud, according to the U.S. attorney's office in Houston. Carlos Wydler was also found guilty of misapplication of bank funds.
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Carlos Wydler, 45, went to work in 2007 for Farmers and Merchants Bank of Long Beach, a California bank, according to court records. He was in charge of the bank's credit card department.

His stepmother, Leyla Wydler, 57, was a licensed real estate agent in Texas, according to court records. She owned several Houston-area businesses including the Globan Mortgage Co.

Not long after Carlos Wydler got his banking position, the pair developed a system in which Leyla Wydler, sent credit card applications to the bank. Carlos Wydler approved the requests for high credit lines, but the cards were rarely, if ever, issued, according to court documents. Instead, the entire credit line was converted into cash and forwarded on to the borrowers. Leyla Wydler then took a fee from the loans, skimming as much as $1.4 million, according to court papers.

The Wydlers used the same scheme to finance investors in developing an unspecified real estate project in Houston, according to court records. The bank was not aware of the real estate financing arrangement, according to the U.S. attorney in Houston. Adam Michaelson, chief marketing officer of Farmers and Merchants Bank, referred all questions to government prosecutors.
The bank lost more than $8 million due to the scheme, according to court papers.

[nitpicker]

1. LInk to the DoJ PR

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdtx/pr/jury-convicts-former-banker-and-mortgage-broker-defrauding-california-bank