two-year investigation, the Weld District Attorney’s Office has arrested a Fort Collins man on 14 criminal counts alleging organized crime, forgery and theft in a series of real estate transactions.
The district attorney’s office has investigated the alleged mortgage fraud scheme for two years, and investigators presented their findings to a Weld County grand jury last week.
The grand jury indicted Matthew Sysum, 41, on:
» One count of a violation of the Colorado Organized Crime Control Act — Pattern of Racketeering, punishable by eight to 24 years in prison.
» Nine counts of felony forgery, punishable by one to three years in prison.
» Three counts of theft of $15,000 or more, punishable by four to 12 years in prison.
» One count of theft, $20,000 or more, punishable by four to 12 years in prison.
The indictment claims that from Jan. 31, 2003, to Dec. 31, 2007, Sysum “engaged in racketeering activity that resulted in financial gain for Sysum through fraud and deceit regarding the purchase and sale of real property for the purpose of investment property,” according to a news release.
The 26-page indictment outlines a series of real estate sales in those four years involving about $9 million in loans from various banks — including a $1.6 million loan from Cache Bank and Trust in Greeley and a $1.5 million loan from First National Bank in Fort Collins — received through forged real estate documents and contracts that “falsified property appraisal values, which were used as a basis for bank loan applications,” the release stated.
The properties included a corner off of 5th and Campbell streets in Kersey, a ranch in Firestone, a property off of U.S. 85 in Platteville, a property in Kiowa and his personal residence in Loveland, the release stated.
District attorney’s investigators arrested Sysum at his home Friday. He posted a $50,000 bond to get out of jail.
The first and only time the Weld District Attorney’s Office charged Colorado Organized Crime Control Act violations involving real estate, former Greeley developer Mark Strodtman was indicted on 23 felony counts involving 11 theft, 11 forgeries and a Colorado Organized Crime Control Act charge. A Weld District Court jury convicted him in November 2009. He was sentenced last year to 31 years in prison. He was the first person in Weld to be convicted under the state’s organized crime control act.
