Head of fraudulent mortgage company pleads guilty

by Dan Olson, Minnesota Public Radio

St. Paul, Minn. — Hennepin County officials say a man charged with dozens of cases of mortgage fraud pleaded guilty Tuesday afternoon moments before he was scheduled to go on trial.

Donald Walthall was charged with mortgage fraud through his Brooklyn Park based company Universal Mortgage.

Nearly all the fraudulent deals he participated in were for homes in north Minneapolis, and nearly all ended in foreclosure.

Hennepin County officials said Walthall pled guilty to lying on loan applications for mortgages. He inflated a mortgage applicant's employment history and salary in order to get a bigger loan and take a portion of the money for himself.

County officials say Walthall was sentenced to more than six years in prison.