Missouri
Mortgage Fraud - Missouri
Monday, August 29, 2005
Owner of Phoenix Title Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud
Thurman Admits to Theft of $3.4 Million from Escrow Accounts
James A. Thurman, 41, St. Charles, Missouri, the owner of Phoenix Title Company, St. Charles, Missouri, pleaded guilty to wire fraud in connection with allegations that he defrauded the company of $1.6 million by taking money from customers’ escrow deposits. Phoenix Title was closed down in April, 2005 and was placed in receivership after Fidelity National Title Insurance of Florida attempted to inspect its records due to rumors of missing escrow funds. In his guilty plea, Thurman admitted that between March 2002 and December 2004 he took $3.4 million from real estate …
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Monday, August 15, 2005
Missouri Woman Sentenced in Connection with $2M Mortgage Fraud
Guilty Plea to Tax Evasion Results in 18 Month Sentence
Kimberly Williams, 46, Town & Country, Missouri, was sentenced to serve 18 months in prison for tax evasion in connection with her role in a $2 million mortgage fraud scheme. On May 18, 2005 Williams plead guilty to one felony count of income tax evasion. As part of her plea, Williams agreed to pay the proceeds from the sale of her residence to the United States to pay back taxes and restitution. According to the facts stated in court at the time of the plea, from June, 1999 to December, 2000, Williams participated in …
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Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Sentencing in $1.2 Million Missouri Mortgage Fraud
Jeannita Triggs was charged by information and plead guilty to one count of mail fraud in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri on August 17, 2004 in connection with a mortgage fraud scheme that cost lenders $1.2M. The indictment alleges that between January 1999 and February 2002, Triggs devised a scheme to defraud by participating in various mortgage frauds while employed at Home Equity Title and Action Title. According to her guilty plea, she processed home closings with mortgage loans she knew contained false loan applications, sometimes with false …
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Monday, July 18, 2005
Guilty Plea in Kansas City Loan Fraud
Williams Admits to Conspiring with Barber
Vernon David Williams, 58, former mortgage broker, Kansas City, Missiouri plead guilty to conspiracy and fraud in connection with allegations that he conspired with Brent Michael Barber, real estate entrepreneur, Belton, Missouri, to defraud mortgage lending companies. In the guilty plea, Williams admitted that he was an employee of mortgage brokerage companies in the Kansas City area and his co-defendant, Barber, was involved in the business of buying and selling real estate, and did business as KC Properties and KC Securities LLC. Between July 24, 2004, and September 16, 2004, …
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Tuesday, July 05, 2005
ABN AMRO Files Civil Suit in Kansas City
Three Defendants Previously Plead Guilty in Flipping Scheme
ABN AMRO Mortgage Group, Inc. filed a civil lawsuit in Kansas City, Missouri federal court against: Pearl Mortgage Group Inc., Kansas City, Missouri;
Midtown Real Estate Holdings LLC, Kansas City, Missouri;
Jonathan Jennings Realty LLC, Kansas City, Missouri;
Jonathan Jennings, Lees Summit, Missouri;
Brighter Homes East Inc., Kansas City, Missouri;
Nathan Brinkle, Blue Springs, Missouri;
Adam Kerr, Lees Summit, Missouri;
Lee Ullman, Leawood, Missouri;
Equitable Title LLC, Overland Park, Missouri;
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Kansas City Fraud Files
An article in The Kansas City Star (As home prices soar, so does mortgage fraud, by Paul Wenske) tracks and recaps recent mortgaqe fraud scheme in Kansas City, Missouri. There’s also a companion article, Appraisal inflation ticking time bomb by Paul Wenske.  mortgage fraud
Thursday, June 16, 2005
Barber Ordered to Jail Pending Trial
Judge Found Terms of Release Violated
Brent Barber, Belton, Missouri will spend the remainder of his time awaiting trial in a jail cell. Although Barber was free on bail with three separate indictments pending, On May 20, 2005, Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge John Maughmer ordered Barber into custody for violating the terms of his release. As a condition of his release on bond, Barber was allowed to remain active in the real estate business but was required to allow a court-appointed monitor to access his financial accounts and real estate transactions. At a hearing May 20, 2005, prosecutors informed the …
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Tuesday, June 07, 2005
Former Ameriquest Employee Pleads Guilty to Mortgage Fraud
Calvert Admits to Defrauding Employer and Borrowers
Chauncey Joseph Calvert, 34, Kansas City, Missouri, a former employee of Ameriquest Mortgage, pleaded guilty in connection with his role in a conspiracy to defraud Ameriquest and victim investors of more than $4 million. The indictment was returned by a federal grand jury on Aug. 13, 2004.
Calvert was an account executive at Ameriquest Mortgage in Gladstone, Missouri, from August 3, 1998 through November 8, 1999. His duties included soliciting new loan applications, preparing and processing loan applications, obtaining supporting documentation and closing loans. By pleading guilty, Calvert admitted that he was …
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Monday, June 06, 2005
Three Missouri Men Plead Guilty in $6.3M Mortgage Fraud
False Information Submitted to Obtain Investor Loans
Three Missouri men plead guilty in connection with a mortgage fraud scheme involving loans of over $6.3M whereby they obtained loans for property investors based on falsified information and documentation. Pleading guilty were: Jonathan Jennings, 33, Lee’s Summit, Missouri
Nathan Brinkle, 30, Kansas City, Missouri
Adam Kerr, 34, mortgage broker, Kansas City, Missouri Brighter Homes East and JB Renovations, run by Jennings and Brinkle, purchased, rehabilitated and sold distressed properties to investors. Kerr, dba Platinum Mortgage II and later, Pearl Mortgage, brokered …
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Friday, May 20, 2005
St. Louis Builder Convicted of Fraud
Thomas Diverted Funds Paid for Construction of Homes
After a 14-day trial, a St. Louis, Missouri federal jury found Jeffrey Thomas guilty of four counts of mail fraud, one count of wire fraud, two counts of money laundering and one count of bank fraud in connection with allegations arising from his construction of luxury homes. Thomas owned, operated or directed businesses for the construction and sale of luxury homes, and purported to build homes on lots in subdivisions that were developed by others, and also owned and operated businesses for developing entire subdivisions. The businesses owned by, operated by, or affiliated with Thomas include: …
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Owner of Phoenix Title Indicted
Thurman Allegedly Diverted Almost $4M From Escrow Accounts
Phoenix Title (St. Charles, Missouri) owner James Andrew Thurman was indicted on eight counts of wire fraud and one count of bank fraud charges in connection with a $3.9 million mortgage fraud scheme. Phoenix Title shut down in April. 2005. The indictment alleges that, between March 2002 and January 2005, Thurman fraudulently transferred about $3.84 million from Phoenix Title’s customers’ escrow funds to either James Andrew Properties, Inc. (also owned by Thurman) or to his personal bank account. In January 2005, Thurman ordered his employees to delay disbursements of …
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Monday, May 02, 2005
Kansas City Appraiser Pleads Guilty in Massive Fraud Scheme
Thomas Involved in Multiple Schemes
A Kansas City, Missouri, man pleaded guilty in federal court to his role in a conspiracy to defraud home buyers and mortgage lenders of millions of dollars.
Phillip D. Thomas, 49, appraiser, Kansas City, Missouri waived his right to a grand jury and pleaded guilty to three-count information, admitting to his role in a mortgage fraud conspiracy. Thomas was a real estate appraiser doing business as Thomas Appraisal Service in Kansas City and Lees Summit, Missouri. Thomas admitted, by pleading guilty to count one, that he conspired to fraudulently obtain …
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Friday, April 29, 2005
Charges Dropped Against Landwer
Money from Real Estate Transaction Returned
Charges were dropped against Charles Landwer Jr., 42, Bartlett, Missouri. Landwer was charged with theft and financial exploitation of an elderly person in connection with allegations that he failed to return $170,000 in real estate proceeds to a 77-year-old man. However, the money was forwarded to the man and the South Elgin bank that handled his real estate transaction last December. According to prosecutors, the decision to drop charges was also based on the express wishes of the 77-year-old man and the bank. mortgage fraud
Monday, April 25, 2005
Mortgage Appraisal and Down Payment Scheme Results in Three Guilty Pleas
US DOJ - Press Release
Click here to read the Indictment
Click here to read the Plea Agreement of Carl Long
Click here to read the Plea Agreement of Mitchell Medlin
Click here to read the Plea Agreement of Anthony Long
Three Kansas City metropolitan men pleaded guilty in federal court to devising and executing a scheme to defraud home-buyers and mortgage lenders of millions of dollars. Anthony Long, 34, Blue Springs, Missouri, his father, Carl Edward Long, 55, Oak Grove, Missouri and Mitchell David Medlin, 43, Lees Summit, Missouri pleaded guilty to a federal information that alleges a mortgage appraisal and down payment scheme and with money laundering. According to the U.S. Attorney, Anthony Long and Carl Long (dbaCommunity HomeBanc, Community HomeBanc of America and First Equity Banc) developed the scheme …
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Fraud Conviction Results in Suspension of Head Start Branch Director
Loscher on Administrative Leave While Agency Reviews Conviction
The executive director of the Overland, Missouri Branch of Head Start was been placed on administrative leave while agency officials investigation her conviction for fraud. In November 2004, Brenda S. Loscher pleaded guilty in Colorado in connection with allegations she defrauded her former mother-in-law of over $150,000 in 1999 in connection with a mortgage.
According to court records, Loscher purchased a house in Shawnee in July 1999 for $354,500 and stated on the application that she and her husband would make a down payment of $153,000. The lender was provided with a falsified bank statement …
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Rachel Dollar is an attorney and Certified Mortgage Banker who handles fraud recovery litigation for lenders and secondary market investors nationwide. She is a nationally recognized speaker on the topic of mortgage fraud. Ms. Dollar is licensed to practice law in California and maintains offices in Santa Rosa, California. 
