Thursday, May 29, 2008

Father And Daughter Charged With Mortgage Fraud

Mark J. Calhoun and his daughter April Calhoun were indicted by a federal grand jury in connection with a mortgage loan fraud scheme.  Mark Calhoun is charged with 12 counts of wire fraud and an additional four counts of money laundering.  Mark and April Calhoun are both charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and eight counts of money laundering offenses.

According to the 25-count indictment, Mark Calhoun worked as a mortgage broker as an employee of Professional Mortgage Consultants Corp. and as the operator of New World Mortgage doing business as Silver Cross Financial Group LLC where April Calhoun was employed.  The indictment alleges that from September 2004 through July 2006, Mark Calhoun prepared false and fictitious documents to insure that lenders would make mortgage loans to prospective borrowers.  If the mortgage loans were successful, Mark Calhoun received a fee for his brokerage services.

The false and fictitious documents, along with the loan application containing false information, were included in each loan application packet submitted to potential lenders by Mark Calhoun and others acting under his direction.  False entries were also included with loan application packets which showed that the borrower paid cash at the closing of the loan when no such funds were paid by the borrower.  During the time period covered by the indictment, Mark Calhoun obtained fraudulent loans for approximately 40 borrowers totaling more than $8.5 million.

According to the indictment, Mark Calhoun and April Calhoun conspired to create fictitious creditors to which these borrowers allegedly were indebted.  These fictitious creditors were actually companies under the control of Mark Calhoun and April Calhoun, who received funds for these fictitious creditors from the loan closings.  The investigation is continuing and other charges are expected in the near future.

“Mortgage fraud is a serious concern throughout the United States.  This case is part of our continuing efforts to bring to justice those people who are enriching themselves by committing crimes at the expense of borrowers and lenders,” said U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi, Dunn Lampton.

mortgage fraud

1. Better than robbing banks, he would have went to jail for much longer exponentially.  This country is RETARDED............

   Posted by  on  05/29  at  06:52 AM

2. can someone please help me. many of my friends and family members were sold house that foreclosed. Our real estate agent made jobs for us and income documents and told us that it was a good investment and that we could sell our houses within 6 months for a good profit. she scamed us and we dont know where to turn.

   Posted by  on  05/29  at  10:14 AM

3. Jackie,

   you knew going into it the jobs and documentation werent legit.  If the homes were foreclosed, you got a home you couldnt afford.  I am not sure how she ‘scammed’ you, but if the home values were to double and you DID sell for a profit, i highly doubt you will be complaining to anyone.

   Posted by  on  05/29  at  04:31 PM

4. Get your affairs in order, and call your local District Attorney’s office. It appears that you broke the law.

   Posted by  on  05/29  at  06:42 PM

5. Will someone explain to me how come the Feds charge the entire amount of the fraud loans to the people who are indicted? Do the people who are living in these homes get to own them without paying?  When will the Feds go after the major lenders who “coached” these types of loans though underwriting to closing?  I think that it is wrong for the Feds to use “selective” recovery during their investigations!

   Posted by  on  06/05  at  03:53 PM

6. I think it is sad that a father corrupted his daughter into doing fraudulent loans.  This is a sad day for the ethics and morals of our culture.  We don’t know if she knew it was wrong, but what a lesson to learn.

   Posted by  on  06/05  at  04:48 PM

7. You know, for the past several years as a loan officer, I have been approached by people wanting to buy homes and produce fraudlent documentaion.  I had one just last week.  If those of us in the business are not careful we can be easily duped by those wanting to do this sort of fraud, and who gets blamed?  The loan officer.  Unknowingly many times.  It is also the responsibly of the the borrower to make sure his documents are correct, and not sign any document that contains wrong information.  The borrowers need to be blamed just as much as the brokers, and coaches.

   Posted by  on  06/09  at  02:59 PM