The founder and former CEO of Live Well Financial, Inc. is facing a lengthy prison sentence for multiple counts of fraud in a bond pricing scheme. The operation led to the closure of his mortgage company.
 
A federal jury in Manhattan found Michael Hild, 46, guilty of five criminal counts. He was convicted of bank fraud, wire fraud and securities fraud after a three-week trial. The charges carry a fine of up to $5 million and a combined maximum prison sentence of 115 years. However, his actual sentence is likely to be shorter.
 
Prosecutors claimed Hild played a role in a scheme to fraudulently inflate the value of a reverse mortgage bonds portfolio from 2015 to 2019. He defrauded the company’s lenders into loaning more funds to Live Well than they might have if they had known how much the company’s bond portfolio was worth.
 
Because of the scheme, Live Well’s bond portfolio grew from around $50 million in 2014 to more than $500 million in 2016. Its value was $200 million in 2019, the year Hild was arrested, and the company closed. He was believed to have kept over $20 million for himself. The scheme fell apart when the company’s lenders learned of the bonds’ actual value. 
 
If you are being investigated or arrested for mortgage fraud, wire fraud or any other kind of fraud in New York, contact Brill Legal Group right away. Our skilled criminal defense attorneys are ready to represent clients in even the most complex cases. Even if the charges cannot be dismissed, we can fight for a less severe sentence.