U City Man Gets 30 Months in Fraud Case

Months after pleading guilty to wire fraud, a mortgage banker was sentenced in federal court.

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Matthew Kent, 41, University City, was sentenced in federal court Friday to 30 months in prison for his role in the theft of $1.2 million of a couple's life savings.

As Patch reported in November, Kent was vice president and co-operator of the University City office of the Coral Mortgage Bankers Corporation. He has pled guilty to one felony count of wire fraud.

According to court documents, between May 2007 and Dec. 31, 2010, Kent and his partner in Coral Mortgage David Rubin of Chesterfield, and Joshua Gould of University City, formerly of Woodbury Financial, embezzled approximately $1.5 million from a retiree solicited by Rubin to provide funds for operating capital for Coral’s St. Louis operations.

The individual was assured that the funds would not be spent, would be held in a secure trust account, used only as collateral for Coral’s operations, and that the individual would receive regular interest payments.

Court documents state that Rubin and Kent used approximately $250,000 of the man's money for operating expenses, including payment of their own salaries, and transferred the balance to Gould who used the money for personal expenses including, jewelry, and adult entertainment.

Rubin and Gould previously pled guilty. Gould was sentenced in July to 8 years in prison and ordered to make restitution to the victims in the amount of $4,323,092. Rubin, 48, is scheduled to be sentenced March 23, the Post reported.