Westport man guilty of fraud

A federal jury found a Westport man guilty of fraudulently submitting false information on mortgage applications totaling $3.5 million, as part of a plan to acquire properties and flip them at a profit.

William Trudeau, 49, was an unnamed principal in Aspetuck Building & Development and Huntington South Associates L.L.C., according to the office of U.S. Attorney David Fein.

From February 2004 to April 2010, Trudeau conspired with Joseph Kriz, Heather Bliss, Fred Stevens, Thomas Preston and others to defraud banks and mortgage lenders by obtaining mortgages on various properties in Fairfield County, then sell them to pay off debts owed to “hard money” lenders from whom they had previously obtained high interest loans.

Kriz, Bliss, Stevens and Preston have pleaded guilty to charges related to their involvement and await sentencing.

As a result of a 2003 federal conviction for fraud and tax offenses, Trudeau was prohibited from owning or operating any business that was not in his own name and was required to report all of his assets to the federal court. Prosecutors said Trudeau’s name did not appear on any documentation related to the loans or the properties for which the loans were obtained, and money was hidden in bank accounts that were not in his name in part to prevent the collection of $450,000 he owed.

The jury found Trudeau guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, mail fraud and wire fraud, and one count of wire fraud. U.S. District Judge Janet Hall scheduled sentencing for this January, with Trudeau facing up to 40 years in prison.