Raleigh real estate developer sentenced to prison

United States – A Raleigh real estate developer has been sentenced to 30 months in prison and must forfeit nine properties in the Triangle – all for his part in an alleged bank fraud scheme.

Howard Goldsmith, 41, was charged with conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud after the feds say he and his conspirators carried out a fraud on various banks and lenders under businesses Goldsmith controlled, such as entities dubbed Ganyard Farm Construction and Baldwin Estates.

After developing properties through GFC and BE, Goldsmith and his cohorts fraudulently supplied down payment funds to unqualified buyers on numerous loans, according to court documents. And the down payments were not identified on paperwork supplied to the lenders at the time of closing. Additionally, Goldsmith and team are accused of paying kickbacks to people who assisted in the transactions.

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Ganyard must pay $808,025 in restitution and forfeit both $1.05 million and nine properties located in Wake and Durham counties.

Several federal agencies participated in the investigation, including the FBI, the IRS and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office.