Local woman sentenced to 8 years in prison

A North Branch woman who used real estate financing knowledge to steal identities of family and friends to take $350,000 in fraudulent loans will serve the next 8 years in prison for her crimes.

Judge Joan Ericksen in St. Paul sentenced Moualee Kottke, 30, formerly of North Branch, to 97 months in prison and five years supervised release after that, according to the United States Attorneyís Office for the District of Minnesota.

Kottke was ordered to pay back $148,000 to several banks and other institutions that were defrauded by her.
Kottke pleaded guilty in April to 15 counts of bank fraud and one count of identity theft. During the plea hearing, Kottke admitted that from August 2001 to August 2002, she forged the names of relatives and a notary public on power of attorney documents and presented the forged documents to financial institutions to get loans.

During the year, Kottke secured more than $400,000 in fraudulent loans, the US Attorneyís Office said.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigations and the Roseville Police Department.

Assistant US Attorney Clifford Wardlaw prosecuted the case.

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