Monday, June 29, 2009
Former Mortgage Broker Pleads Guilty in $1.6 Million Mortgage Fraud Scheme
Warren Clifton Pierce, a former mortgage broker operating as Integrity Mortgage, Inc. entered a guilty plea on Monday, June 1, 2009, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, to the crime of Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud and Wire Fraud for his role in a scheme to fraudulently obtain mortgage loans totaling approximately $1.6 Million from various out of state lenders. During his guilty plea, Pierce admitted his participation in fabricating documents and giving false information to lenders to fraudulently obtain residential mortgage loans for borrowers who did not qualify financially to receive the loans.
As previously reported on Mortgage Fraud Blog, Warren Clifton Pierce worked in the mortgage business in the metro-Jackson area for a number of years. During the time frame charged in the Indictment, Pierce did business as Raintree County Marketing Company, and as Integrity Mortgage as a mortgage broker. As a mortgage broker, Pierce sought out prospective borrowers and tried to qualify them financially to receive a home mortgage. Pierce would obtain basic financial and employment information from the borrower for a loan application. Pierce and his co-conspirators would then include false information on the application form to induce the lender to make the loan. Pierce and his coconspirators also prepared false documents to submit to lenders to support the false information contained on the loan application. These fabricated documents included false Verifications of Deposit, false Verifications of Rent, false forms to verify income, false W-2 forms, false tax returns, false money orders and false Social Security letters.
All of these fraudulent documents were either mailed or wired to lenders outside the state of Mississippi. The fraudulent loan application information and the fraudulent supporting documents caused the lender to believe the borrower had the ability to repay the mortgage loan and also created the appearance of a mortgage marketable as a security on the secondary market. Consequently, the false information and fabricated documents were significant in scheme to induce the lender to approve and fund the mortgage loan. Pierce received broker fees and commissions from those fraudulently obtained mortgage loan proceeds, which he shared with his co-conspirators.
Pierce is scheduled to be sentenced on August 25, 2009, at 9:00 a.m. at the federal courthouse in Natchez, MS. He faces a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000.00 and forfeiture in the amount of $1.6 million.
mortgage fraud
duhhhhhhhhhhhh
Posted by on 06/29 at 12:42 PM
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Trial coverage provided by Anne Mitchell, Crazy Fish Realty.
F. Jeffrey Miller Update - October 20, 2009
A hearing was held in Topeka, Kansas in front of Judge Julie Robinson. Miller is currently being held pending his sentencing which is set for December 22nd, 2009 at 9:00 a.m.. Steve Vanatta and Hallie Irvin, Miller's codefendants, will be sentenced at that time also.
Several motions were heard this week. One was a motion for Miller to be released pending his sentencing. Miller's attorney, Jeff Morris, argued that the court had dismmissed with predjudice the matter involving Miller's purchase of a commercial lawnmower, violating the court ordered monitoring agreement. He also argued that Miller was not a flight risk and should be released. This motion was denied.
Another motion heard by Judge Robinson was that of an escrow account containing proceeds from the sale of Miller's forfeited assets. This account has a balance of $143,000. Attorney Morris argued that his firm was due $100,000 for work done in the Miller matter, to date. The government argued that his 'un-itemized fees' were 'exhorbitant'. The balance of the funds, Morris argued, should be released to the Miller family to help pay for mounting household expenses.
The government argued that the 'Asset Forfeiture Provision' applies down to 'the last penny' and that 'the rights of the victims to made whole are of paramount immportance' and that no routine household expenses like Visa bills, are allowed.
Attorney Morris argues that there is more than enough assets to satisfy the jury's judgement of $2.65 million dollars. The government argues that the estimated value of his assets are only $1.4 million.
The government also stated that Miller has been paid dividends from a company Miller has an ownership interest in; Boreflex. From July, 2008 to present, Miller has been paid $330,509.30 from Boreflex, unbeknownst to the court appointed monitor.
Present in the courtroom was Todd Earnshaw. Earnshaw was indicted along with Miller and others in what is commonly referred to as 'Miller I'. That trial is scheduled to begin on January 11, 2010 in Topeka, Kansas.
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Rachel Dollar, the editor of Mortgage Fraud Blog, is an attorney and Certified Mortgage Banker who handles litigation for lending institutions and secondary market investors. She is an author and a nationally recognized speaker on the topic of mortgage fraud. Ms. Dollar is a shareholder with the law firm of 
