Former Valley Man Guilty in Loan Fraud

A 54-year-old former San Fernando Valley man was found guilty in federal court Wednesday of illegally obtaining $1.8 million in loans to buy three West Valley luxury homes, authorities said.

Stuart Rosenberg of Las Vegas was convicted on two counts of making false statements on a loan application, two counts of bank fraud and two counts of money laundering, according to Aaron Dyer, an assistant U.S. attorney who helped prosecute the case.

The attorney at the Office of the Federal Public Defender who represented Rosenberg could not be reached for comment.

The prosecution argued that Rosenberg--who lived in various parts of the Valley before moving to Las Vegas--made several false statements to banks between July 1988 and September 1991 in order to obtain the loans.

The houses--ranging in price from $500,000 to $1 million--were situated in West Valley communities, including Encino and Woodland Hills, Dyer said.

Federal prosecutors argued that in his first loan application Rosenberg used an alias, a false Social Security number and false income information, Dyer said.

In two subsequent applications he used a straw borrower and false information regarding that person’s income and ability to make a down payment, according to federal prosecutors.

The second two loans also misled the lenders on the true value of the houses being purchased--allowing Rosenberg to obtain far more money than the actual price of the properties, Dyer said.

Rosenberg had claimed the total price of all the houses was $2.2 million, but the true price was less than $1.4 million, the prosecutors said. He used the money to pay off each house and put the rest in his pocket, they said.

Sentencing is scheduled for May 19, before U.S. District Judge J. Spencer Letts.