A New York City resident has pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Bangor, Maine, to charges related to mortgage fraud and operating an illegal marijuana grow house.
According to court records, Ken Yiu, 49, purchased a property in Saint Albans using an $80,000 residential mortgage loan from a Maine bank. On his loan application, Yiu indicated that he intended to use the property as his primary residence. However, authorities say he never planned to live there and instead used the property for cultivating and distributing marijuana from September 2020 through January 2024.
Federal law enforcement interviewed Yiu in December 2024. During the interview, Yiu admitted that he sold marijuana grown at the Saint Albans property to buyers in Massachusetts. A federal search warrant was executed on the property in January 2025 and confirmed it had been used for growing and distributing marijuana.
Yiu is facing up to 30 years in prison and a maximum fine of $1 million for mortgage fraud. For the drug-related charge, he faces up to 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $500,000. Sentencing will take place after a presentence investigative report is completed by the U.S. Probation Office. The final sentence will be determined by a federal district court judge after reviewing the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Neither Yiu nor his property was licensed through the Maine Office of Cannabis Policy.
The investigation involved multiple agencies including the FBI, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, and IRS Criminal Investigation.