Hathaway faces May 28 sentencing

Diane M. Hathaway, a former Michigan Supreme Court justice, will be sentenced May 28 after she pled guilty for committing bank fraud in connection with a Grosse Pointe Park property she owned. During last week's hearing before United States District Judge John Corbett O'Meara, Hathaway, 58, admitted that between 2010 and 2011 she knowingly engaged in a scheme to defraud ING Direct bank by concealing assets from the bank to qualify for a "short sale." A short sale is a forgiveness of debt by the bank to a borrower who claims financial hardship. Based on her guilty plea and felony conviction for committing bank fraud Hathaway is facing a maximum of thirty years in prison, a fine of up to $1,000,000 and up to five years of supervised release. ''We have made mortgage fraud a priority in this district because of the harm this crime causes to our housing markets in the aggregate," said United States Attorney Barbara McQuade, in making the announcement. "Homeowners who play by the rules should know that those who don't will be held accountable, no matter who they are.'' ''Public corruption scandals have damaged the public's trust in government and tarnished our state's reputation," said Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette. "But today, we begin to move forward, beyond the cloud of controversy that hung over our state's Supreme Court. The case was investigated by the FBI with assistance from the Michigan Attorney General's Office. Robert Foley, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI said: ''Regardless of a person's stature or position in life, we must all follow the same set of rules. In this case, an individual in a prominent position of public trust made extremely poor choices that have resulted in criminal activity. The FBI is committed to stopping these illegal acts.'' Published: Mon, Feb 4, 2013

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