Missouri
Mortgage Fraud - Missouri
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
Sentence Imposed in St. Louis Mortgage Fraud Scheme
Schulte Sentenced to Prison and Ordered to Pay Restitution to Lenders
Charles R. Schulte, 57, St. Louis, Missouri, was sentenced to serve 19 months in federal prison followed by 3 years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $1,176,098.80 in restitution to 19 different lenders. Schulte plead guilty to one count of wire fraud on March 17, 2004. Click here to view a copy of the Judgment that breaks down the restitution amount by lender. In connection with the sentencing, Schulte argued that the restitution order should only extend to the one count to which he plead guilty (resulting in losses of $25,000) …
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Tuesday, March 22, 2005
FHA Crackdown on False Social Security Numbers used for Mortgages
Illegal Immigrants can be Indicted or Deported
According to an article in Dos Mundos, illegal immigrants in Kansas City, Missouri who have used false social security numbers or employer identification numbers in order to qualify for federally backed mortgages are being indicted and deported. The federal attention is attributed to laws enacted in response to 9/11 require require financial institutions to scrutinize loan applications more closely and verify Social Security or Individual Taxpayer Identification numbers. While some of the immigrants knowing provided false identification in order to obtain home ownership, other loans are …
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Monday, March 07, 2005
Feds Investigate Capital Title Collapse
Escrow Shortfall Estimate $12M
The FBI and Postal Service are investigating the collapse of Capital Title Co. and interviewing former employees. The investigation by the Missouri Department of Insurance that began in December is continuing.
First American Title Insurance Co. released new figures showing that escrow account shortages may reach $12 million, twice the projected amount. First American is paying claims customers purchased a title policy. If there is no evidence of title policy purchase, First American is turning claims over the to the receiver. First American has already made payments of $6.8 million. It is still unclear what happened to …
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Thursday, March 03, 2005
Drug Traffickers Engage in Mortgage Fraud
Long Prison Sentence in Missouri Drug Ring
Reginald Dinez Johnson, a/k/a Cedric Miller, 35, St. Louis, Missouri was sentenced to 24 years and 4 months on drug and fraud charges. His co-defendants, Carl Alexander, 39, Black Jack, Missouri, Terry Brown, 36, Brandon, St. Louis, Missouri, Edward Quentin Anderson, 36, St. Louis, Missouri and Patricia Alexander-Butler, 58, St. Louis, Missouri await sentencing. According to testimony presented at trial, Edward Anderson was the leader of a criminal enterprise responsible for the distribution of more than 150 kilos of cocaine and 30 kilos of PCP in the St. Louis area. He …
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Friday, February 18, 2005
Appraiser Pleads Guilty in Connection with Mortgage Fraud
Peggy Jo Snodgrass Inflated Appraisals
Peggy Jo Snodgrass, 39, appraiser, Raytown, Missouri pleaded guilty to charges in connection with submission of fraudulent appraisals to lenders. Snodgrass admitted to causing mortgage companies to approve 75 loans totaling approximately $4.3M between June and November of 2000.  mortgage fraud
Monday, February 14, 2005
Three Indicted in Kansas City, Missouri Mortgage Fraud
New Charges Levied against Brent Michael Barber in Third Indictment
Brent Michael Barber has been charged with mortgage fraud for the third time in less than twelve months. The new indictment includes 66 felony counts of conspiracy and fraud. Also named were Robert Dale Beckley and Roderick Neil Criss. The indictment seeks forfeiture of approximately $4M in cash and real estate. Click here to view the Indictment. It is alleged that Barber persuaded people to purchase properties in the Kansas City, Missouri area, promising that no down payments were required, Barber would find renters and the investors would receive profits …
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Mardell McGee Smith and Mario McGee Sentenced
Brothers Ran St. Louis Mortgage Fraud Scheme
Mardell McGee Smith, aka Patrick McGee, 35, Florissant, Missouri was sentenced to one year and one day in prison and ordered to pay $230,481 in restitution after pleading guilty last year to one felony count of making false statements on HUD applications and one felony count of misusing a Social Security number. Mario McGee, 32, formerly of St. Louis, (brother of Mardell McGee Smith) was sentenced to six months in prison and ordered to pay $140,508 in restitution. Jimmy Sexton, St. Louis, Maurice McIntosh, Florissant, and LaWanda Knox, St. Louis previously pled guilty …
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Friday, February 04, 2005
A Case For Shredding
Hardene Stole Identities From Discarded Mortgage Documents
Jerome Hardene, also known as Jeremy Smith, 44, St. Louis, Missouri was sentenced to 100 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution of over $100,000 after pleading guilty in a credit card fraud scheme. According to the plea agreement, obtained discarded loan documents from a local mortgage company and used the applicant’s personal information to falsify driver’s licenses and open charge accounts. mortgage fraud
Monday, January 24, 2005
Capital Title Placed in Receivership
Company has $6.5M Deficit
Capital Title Co.,, St. Louis, Missouri, was shut down and placed in receivership last week. According to court documents, the company has been bouncing checks for six months and has a $6.5M deficit. The St Louis Post Dispatch article states that one of two of Capitals underwriters is investigating for alleged diversion of escrow funds and that sources close to the case have said that funds were stolen from the company. According to court receivership documents, over the past 18 months, Capital failed to pay Land Title $600,000 …
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Monday, December 13, 2004
Missouri Ponzi Scheme Unravels
Investments in Arizona Manufactured Housing Development
Michael Schaefer, 55, charged with 88 felony counts in Johnson County Missouri District Court, was arrested on Thursday. Schaefer is accused of operating a ponzi scheme in which he sold interests in a purported manufactured housing development in Arizona through two businesses: Omnibus Inc. and Schaefer Enterprises. Each investor paid Schaefer nearly $11,000 and was promised a return. The venture unraveled when Shaefer started using new investments to pay earlier returns. Most investors were located near Kansas City, Missouri.
mortgage fraud …
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Monday, November 22, 2004
Theft by Quit Claim
Stolen Real Property Title is Growing Problem
The Kansas City Star published an article on property theft . A quote from the article provides details as to how this scheme works:
The typical scenario involves a thief forging the property owner’s name on a quitclaim deed or a warranty deed. The forgery suggests that the owner sold the house or deeded the property to the thief. The forged deed is notarized either legitimately or fraudulently, then filed with the Jackson County Department of Records. Once the document is processed, the thief becomes the owner of record.
The thief then uses the property as …
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Thursday, September 23, 2004
More Mortgage Fraud Schemes: Illinois, Colorado, Missouri
Chicago, IL: Jeffrey Grossman and Donald Grauer (dba The Churchill Group). Pleaded guilty. Real estate development scheme where defendants allegedly submitted fraudulent vouchers to banks to construct two condominium complexes. Lender losses: $15 million.
Denver, CO: Gerald Small, Kelli Burkhalter-Small, Charles Winnett, Chad Heinrich and Robert Sigg (dba Amerifunding). Arraigned on charges of bank fraud from allegations that they used stolen identities to obtain loans to buy substandard houses used to continue the scheme. Lender losses: $19 million.
Kansas City, Mo: Chauncey Joseph Calvert, Aronda Lynn …
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Wednesday, September 22, 2004
McGee Smith, St. Louis, MO
Mardell McGee Smith (aka Patrick McGee), 35, pleaded guilty to one felony count of making false statements on HUD applications and one felony count of misusing a Social Security number. He is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 30.
The allegations were that Smith, who owned and operated New Alliance Enterprises Inc., bought homes in the St. Louis, Missouri area and sold them for inflated amounts. He would encourage buyers to obtain an EIN to use in place of their SSN to hide poor credit.
Co-defendants MARIO MCGEE, 32, formerly of …
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Thursday, July 08, 2004
Hairston, St. Louis, MO
Tandy Hairston, 38, St. Louis, Missouri
Tandy Hairston pleaded guilty to four felony counts of wire fraud and one felony count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and was sentenced to 64 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution of $2,424,857. Hairston owned and operated The Loan Store, dba Mid-Town Mortgage from 1998 to 2001 as a mortgage broker and mortgage bank. During that time, he made $21 million in loans using some form of fraud and caused losses of more than $2.5 million. Hairston also submitted false information to qualify for warehouse lines.
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Friday, September 27, 2002
Ameriquest Files Civil RICO Lawsuit for Mortgage Fraud
Defendants include Ameriquest Employees
Ameriquest filed a civil lawsuit alleging that the defendants fraudulently obtained approximately 75 properties in Kansas City, Missouri and its neighboring areas from Ameriquest by helping to create or by submitting loan applications and documents, title reports and appraisals that misrepresented material facts and that they organized numerous loan transactions which were based on fraudulent, false and inaccurate loan applications and on greatly inflated appraisals and false title reports in order to fraudulently induce Ameriquest to make loans. In most of the loan transactions, according to the complaint, Ameriquest loan funds were to be used to refinance allegedly existing …
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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. 
