Michael Hild, formerly of Northern Kentucky, was sentenced to three years and eight months in prison for his conviction related to Live Well Financial, his now defunct reverse mortgage company.
The sentence was handed down on Friday by Judge Ronnie Abrams in the Southern District Court of New York and was reported by Reverse Mortgage Daily on its website.
The sentence was shorter than what prosecutors requested but longer than the sentence requested by Hild’s attorneys. His conviction was related to a scheme that fraudulently inflated the value of the lender’s bonds with the goal of convincing creditors to lend the company more money. The scheme ultimately defrauded banks out of tens of millions of dollars.
The Securities and Exchange Commission had previously said it would wait until the conclusion of the criminal case before pursing a case of its own against Hild.
The Richmond “BizSense” reports that Hild, 48, was allowed to remain free on bond for at least 90 days, during which time his attorney and federal prosecutors will work out how much in restitution he’ll need to repay the lenders as well as whether he can continue to remain free pending appeal. He’s on the hook for a potential $22 million in restitution, according to published reports.
Hild was arrested by the FBI in 2019 and the trial took longer than expected to commence. Though two company executives entered guilty pleas, Hild entered a plea of not guilty. He was represented by Northern Kentucky attorney Ben Dusing, but when the jury trial — which was ultimately held in April 2021 — resulted in a guilty verdict on five counts — conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud, securities fraud, wire fraud and bank fraud — Hild fired Dusing and hired new lawyers.
In his appeal, he accused Dusing of being distracted by his own domestic legal issues in Kenton County.
Judge Abrams ultimately rejected these claims, saying that Hild had attempted to manipulate the narrative around his former attorney by using an anonymous social media account. She said that “Dusing was a zealous, passionate, articulate and compelling advocate. . .who advanced his case by cross examination, especially of two key government witnesses, and through Hild’s testimony.” She further said Dusing’s “performance was strong, and at the very least on par with that of other white-collar litigators who regularly practice in this district.” Her ruling paved the way for Friday’s sentencing.
Prior to its closing in 2019, Live Well Financial was the eighth-largest reverse mortgage lender in the industry.
Hild, a graduate of Covington Catholic High School, now lives in Richmond, Va. He made millions of dollars as CEO of the company he established in 2005.
