Woodbridge Attorney Gets 21 Months in Prison

An attorney from Woodbridge was sentenced Thursday to 21 months in prison for participating in a mortgage fraud scheme and for making false statements to federal law enforcement officials.

David Kinney's sentence will be followed by two years supervised release, according to the United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Kinney, a New Haven-based attorney, participated in a mortgage fraud conspiracy in 2006 and 2007 by acting as the settlement agent in connection with fraudulent real estate transactions in New London County.

As part of the scheme, Kinney submitted, or caused to be submitted, materially false HUD-l settlement statements to lenders. In certain cases, Kinney released a disbursement check before he had received the down payment listed on the HUD-1.

On November 5, 2007, in connection with the investigation of this matter, FBI special agents served Kinney a subpoena at his New Haven office. On that date, Kinney told agents that he had never given anyone a closing check prior to receiving the down payment money in connection with real estate closings that he handled when, in fact, he had done so on multiple occasions.

As part of his sentence, Judge Covello ordered Kinney to pay restitution in the amount $507,155.24 and to forfeit $65,749.59.

On November 9, 2011, Kinney pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and one count of making a false statement.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Michael S. McGarry and David T. Huang.

The preceding was based on a press release.