Maple Grove Real Estate Appraiser Pleads Guilty for Role in Mortgage Fraud

A Maple Grove real estate appraiser pleaded guilty Thursday, Nov. 17, in federal court for his role in a $1.8 million fraud scheme involving 28 properties, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Real estate appraiser Ryan Daryl Krutzig, 31, of Maple Grove, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud before U.S. District Court Judge Richard H. Kyle.

In his plea agreement, Krutzig “admitted that from March through June 2006 he conspired with others to commit mortgage fraud," according to the United States Attorney’s Office. He owned and operated U.S. Appraisal Management in Maple Grove.

Krutzig and real estate agent Jesse Scott Hoffman, 32, of St. Cloud, were in June.

The indictment alleged Krutzig and Hoffman obtained mortgage loan proceeds through fraud. They also “allegedly concealed payments to themselves from those proceeds by diverting them to buyers and others, including Thomas Hunter and Frederick Deen, co-owners of Legacy Lending, a mortgage brokerage company," according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Deen was sentenced to 24 months in prison in March 2010. Thomas was sentenced in September 2010 to 40 months in prison.

In addition to Krutzig’s recent plea, the United States Attorney’s Office said in a news release Hoffman pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud Sept. 15.

Krutzig faces a potential maximum penalty of five years. Hoffman faces a potential maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Sentences will be determined at a future hearing.