A Rochester, Ill., man, Christopher Schaller, 48, was sentenced on June 9, 2022, to 30 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, for six counts of wire fraud resulting from a mortgage fraud scheme.
At the sentencing hearing, the government presented evidence Schaller used his extensive knowledge of the mortgage industry and the trust placed in him by his employer, Diamond Residential Mortgage Corp. (Diamond), as the manager of its Springfield, Ill., office, to defraud others and to benefit himself.
Also at the hearing, United States District Judge Sue Myerscough found Schaller was in a position of trust, was acting in a supervisory position, and utilized sophisticated means to conduct the wire fraud. Schaller was ordered to pay $61,369.36 in restitution and was prohibited from working in a mortgage-related employment position while on supervised release unless given express permission by the court.
Judge Myerscough ordered $32,811 in restitution be made payable to the Veterans Administration, with the rest owed to Diamond. Previously, the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) had revoked Schaller’s mortgage loan originator license and fined him $128,000. In a related matter, IDFPR and Diamond entered a consent order where Diamond agreed to pay $1,275,000 to settle all allegations.
Schaller was indicted in September 2019 and plead guilty in August 2020. After initially being released on bond, Schaller’s bond was revoked, and he has been in the custody of the U.S. Marshal since June 10, 2021.
The statutory penalties for wire fraud are not more than 20 years in prison, not more than five years of supervised release, and up to a $250,000 fine.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Illinois Attorney General’s Office, and the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tanner Jacobs and Sierra Senor-Moore represented the government.