A Houston area man has been taken into custody for allegedly acting as a loan officer on millions of dollars in fraudulent loans as part of a large-scale bank fraud scheme, announced Acting U.S. Attorney John G.E. Marck on May 5.
Siupo Ernest Mo made his initial appearance in Houston federal court following an indictment returned April 29. According to the charges, from at least 2018 through 2022, Mo conspired with others to obtain money from federally insured financial institutions by submitting fraudulent loan applications.
The indictment alleges that Mo worked as a loan officer and assisted in preparing and submitting loan applications containing false and fraudulent information. The scheme is said to have included fake equipment invoices, fraudulent income tax returns, and falsified financial and bank statements. Authorities allege that Mo recruited others to prepare false tax returns which were then used to support these applications.
The investigation was conducted by the Federal Housing Finance Agency - Office of Inspector General, IRS Criminal Investigation, FBI, and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation - OIG with assistance from the Texas Financial Crimes Intelligence Center. Assistant U.S. Attorney Belinda Beek is prosecuting the case.
The Department of Justice has created the National Fraud Enforcement Division whose core mission is "to zealously investigate and prosecute those who steal or fraudulently misuse taxpayer dollars." Department efforts support President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, described as "a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste and abuse within federal benefit programs." An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct; defendants are presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.
The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas employs more than 200 attorneys across offices in Houston, Galveston, Corpus Christi, Laredo, McAllen and Brownsville; it covers 43 counties with a population exceeding nine million people while focusing on prosecuting federal crimes and handling civil cases for the government according to its official website. The office is part of the U.S. Department of Justice under the Attorney General’s supervision; former leaders include Alamdar Hamdani (2022-2025) and Ryan Patrick according to its official history page.
