Moab man convicted of wire fraud, money laundering
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A Moab businessman was convicted June 5 in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City on one count of wire fraud and two counts of money laundering as part of a nationwide crackdown on mortgage fraud.

Jerry C. Huff was also found guilty after a four-day jury trial of two counts of failure to file income tax returns.

A jury returned a verdict Friday in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City finding Jerry C. Huff guilty of one count of wire fraud, two counts of money laundering and two counts of failure to file income tax returns for 2002 and 2003.  The verdict, returned Friday, followed four days of trial.

Prosecutors say Huff, who did business as High Caliber Construction in Moab, made false statements to get $250,000 for a second mortgage on a construction project. According to information from the Las Vegas Field Office of the Internal Revenue Service, the appraisal for the loan package was “fictitious and falsely represented that the construction project was complete and that the project was worth approximately $1.67 million.” Prosecutors also say the appraisal contained altered images of the construction project that suggested it was complete, and that his application included personal federal tax returns for 2001 and 2002, but he did not file those returns with the IRS.

Huff faces a maximum prison sentence of 20 years and a fine of $250,000 for the wire fraud charge, 10 years for each of the money laundering counts, and one year and $25,000 fine for each count of failure to file income tax returns.

Huff is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 21 by U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart.

Huff was one of more than 400 people across the country who were charged under Operation Malicious Mortgage, a crackdown announced in June 2008 by the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI.
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