Ex-Councilman Pleads Guilty to Bank Fraud in Home Loan Case
Former Burbank City Councilman James Richman pleaded guilty to bank fraud Monday, but federal prosecutors persuaded a judge to seal detailed information on the plea bargain deal.
Richman, 63, pleaded guilty to defrauding Western Federal Savings and Loan in Tarzana in connection with a home he attempted to purchase in Burbank’s Bell Canyon six years ago.
Under the deal, Richman will not face additional fraud charges but may be required to make restitution.
“We are discussing four other transactions [Richman made] in this plea agreement,” Assistant U.S. Atty. Harriet Rolnick said. The one-term councilman, who served from 1977 to 1981, submitted falsified tax returns to the bank and lied about the source of money he intended to use for a down payment on a Hackamore Lane house in 1991, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. Richman gave the false information to obtain a bank loan for more than half a million dollars, Rolnick said.
Sentencing was set for Dec. 15.
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