Alberta man convicted of fraud in $3.9-million mortgage scam

| Wednesday, 29 September 2010
A northern Alberta man has been convicted of multiple counts of fraud in a $3.9 million rural mortgage scam.

James Steinhubl, 37, was found guilty of 13 counts of fraud over $5,000 and one count of attempted fraud over $5,000, according to a written decision issued by former Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Myra Bielby.

In the decision, Bielby—who is now with the Court of Appeal of Alberta—said the scam was “particularly harsh” because the fraudsters had borrowers obtain insured mortgages, rather than conventional ones, which allowed for high-ratio mortgages.

“These mortgages maximized the fraudulent returns to the accused at the cost of exposing the straw buyers to huge personal liability when the mortgages ultimately went into default,” said Bielby.

Steinhubl, who was facing 60 counts of fraud, is being held in custody pending a sentencing hearing tentatively scheduled for sometime late this year.