Draper man admits to bank fraud in mortgage scheme

SALT LAKE CITY — A Draper man has admitted in federal court that he falsified  construction loan applications in connection with a mortgage fraud scheme.

Joseph Aldridge, 51, of Draper, pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud Monday in U.S. District Court in a plea arrangement with prosecutors. He was originally charged with three counts of bank fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft.

Judge Robert J. Shelby will sentence Aldridge on March 4. He faces up to 30 years in prison.

The case against co-defendant Alan Prince, 59, of Lehi, is pending. Prince owned Prince Development, a Utah real estate company that bought, built and sold homes. Prince is charged with conspiracy, seven counts of bank fraud and seven counts of aggravated identity theft.

Aldridge, a mortgage broker, admitted that he was contacted in April 2007 by a builder/real estate developer, identified in court documents as A.P. 

A.P. asked him to prepare a falsely backdated loan application in the name of a purported buyer and a falsely backdated letter stating that the buyer was pre-approved for long-term financing for property and a construction loan in Murray.

Aldridge knew the buyer had no intention of purchasing the property and had no knowledge his means of identification were being used on the documents.  Relying on the documents, Proficio Bank advanced construction loan funds to Prince Development. 

At the time, Proficio Bank did not do lending in the speculative home building industry. To obtain money for construction loans, the bank required Prince to provide proof that buyers were pre-qualified to buy the homes.

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