Ex-Loan Officer Fred Haywood Gets 151 Months for South Side Straw-Buyer Mortgage Fraud

Case from 2013–2015 (U.S. Attorney's Office release: May 2, 2013; later developments are from court records and other sources cited below). Published on Scammers.com Oct. 16, 2026; case status is current as of that date.

Fred Haywood, a former loan officer from Chicago, was sentenced on May 2, 2013, to 151 months in federal prison. His mortgage fraud scheme covered 65 real estate deals, mostly on properties in economically depressed South Side neighborhoods, and earned him more than $700,000 personally, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois announced [1]. The Seventh Circuit affirmed the sentence on Jan. 26, 2015 [2].

How the scheme worked

According to prosecutors and the Seventh Circuit [1] [2]:

1. Inside the brokerages: From 2001 to 2007, Haywood worked as a loan officer or processor for several mortgage brokerages, preparing applications and supporting documents for buyers.
2. Paid straw buyers: He and others recruited people with good credit to buy properties and paid them to put the homes in their names. The buyers lacked the income to qualify, didn't plan to live in the homes, and had no intention of making long-term payments.
3. False loan files: Applications misstated income, assets, employment, plans to live in the home, and the source of down payments.
4. The losses: Lenders lost about $1.4 million.

Court records showed he kept up the fraud after he was indicted and while on pretrial release [1].

The sentence

Fred (Frederic S.) Haywood, 42, Chicago

• Plea: guilty to wire fraud in April 2012.
• Sentence: 151 months in prison and more than $1.4 million in restitution to lenders, imposed by U.S. District Judge Ronald Guzmán. His was the longest term among six defendants charged in 2008 and 2009, all of whom pleaded guilty. He was the last of them to be sentenced [1].
• Appeal: Haywood argued that some of the loss came from statements he made in protected proffer sessions and that a four-level aggravating-role increase was wrong. The Seventh Circuit rejected both arguments and affirmed (No. 13-3815) [2].

The FBI and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated.

Red flags

• Offers to pay you to buy a house or to "lend your credit" to a deal.
• A loan officer who fills in income or employment for you or tells you not to worry about the details.
• Being told you won't have to make payments or live in the property.

If you've been approached

1. Don't sign a mortgage application you know is false. Straw buyers can face criminal charges and wrecked credit.
2. Check the loan officer's license on the NMLS Consumer Access site at nmlsconsumeraccess.org.
3. Report mortgage fraud to the FBI at tips.fbi.gov.

Case status (as of Oct. 16, 2026)

Defendant	Court	Status as of Oct. 16, 2026	Source
Fred (Frederic S.) Haywood	N.D. Ill. (Judge Guzmán), 08 CR 1023; 7th Cir. No. 13-3815	Pleaded guilty April 2012 to wire fraud; sentenced May 2, 2013, to 151 months and more than $1.4M restitution; affirmed Jan. 26, 2015	[1], [2]

Sources

1. U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois, "Ex-loan Officer Sentenced To 12½ Years In Prison For Mortage Fraud Scheme Involving Dozens Of South Side Properties," May 2, 2013. https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/pr/ex-loan-officer-sentenced-12-years-prison-mortage-fraud-scheme-involving-dozens-south
2. U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, United States v. Frederic Haywood, No. 13-3815, Jan. 26, 2015. https://storage.courtlistener.com/pdf/2015/01/26/united_states_v._frederic_haywood.pdf

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