A man accused of being the leader of a mortgage fraud ring pleaded guilty Friday to wire fraud. Kourosh Partow was part of a group of seven Anchorage residents federal prosecutors charged with deceiving mortgage lenders by overstating income and assets on loan applications.

The other six also have entered guilty pleas. Prosecutors say the conspiracy started in 2002, and involved loan amounts ranging up to almost 800,000 dollars. Officials say the ring used the money to buy residential properties and then sell them at higher prices.

Federal prosecutors accused Partow of falsifying documents while he was a manager at the Anchorage branches of national mortgage companies Countrywide Home Loans and American Home Mortgage. Neither mortgage company has been accused of any wrongdoing. Partow pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud. For his plea, his charges were reduced to the two counts. He'll be sentenced this summer.
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