Contractor Guilty of Quake Loan Fraud
A Hidden Hills man could face up to 20 years in prison for lying to get millions of dollars in loans to repair properties damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake, said assistant U.S. Atty. Thomas D. Warren.
Michael Lederer, 34, pleaded guilty in federal court this week to four counts of making false statements to the Los Angeles Housing Department to secure more than $5.5 million in government loans so that his construction company, Horizon ML, could repair eight San Fernando Valley properties, Warren said.
To receive the periodic disbursements of money for the projects in 1995 and 1996, Warren said Lederer submitted numerous phony documents such as subcontractor invoices and checks.
“He falsified documents to get the city to pay,” Warren said. “He submitted hundreds of phony invoices.”
After the Northridge earthquake, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development made more than $300 million available to the city of Los Angeles to pay for repairs to housing units.
Lederer is scheduled to be sentenced March 27 in U.S. District Court.
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