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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. Email Ms. Dollar
Mortgage Fraud Blog is co-sponsored by Interthinx the leading provider of fraud services and solutions for the mortgage industry.
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Wednesday, February 07, 2007
HomeGold Exec Ronald Sheppard Sentenced
Ronald Sheppard, 49, former HomeGold chief executive, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for his role in defrauding 8,000 investors out of approximately $275 million dollars.
Sheppard was convicted of securities fraud, conspiracy and obtaining property by false pretenses after less than two hours of deliberation by the jury. He faced a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison and fines of over $100,000.
Sheppard is the fifth executive of HomeGold or HomeGold’s subsidiary, Carolina Investors, to plead guilty or be convicted.
Sheppard still faces additional charges, including bank fraud and forgery. Those cases are pending.
Sheppard pled not guilty to those charges.
HomeGold’s chairman, Jack Sterling, is awaiting trial on charges stemming from a grand jury indictment. He has pleaded not guilty.
mortgage fraud
I think these people who are getting sentenced to prison for mortgage fraud are being unfairly persecuted. What they did isn’t so bad at all. It’s a sweet way to get money for a house, or several houses. Everybody’s doin’ it!
It’s not fair that these enterpreneurs are being punished for being fearless risk-takers. Once again, meaningless, dull conformity to a 9-to-5 cubicle job is being rewarded, while the trailblazers of industry are punished. When there are no more trailblzers, what then? Some day society will beg us to return, but we’ll all be in prison for our brave efforts.
Posted by on 02/07 at 09:34 AM
yeah, those who are convicted of fraud like Sheppard will plead not guilty to hide himself from further embarrassment and humiliation. He’s used in defrauding others that he is also trying to convince himself that he did not commit the crime despite of the 8,000 complainants and obviously tons of evidence against him.
Posted by on 02/07 at 07:15 PM
“I think these people who are getting sentenced to prison for mortgage fraud are being unfairly persecuted. What they did isn’t so bad at all. It’s a sweet way to get money for a house, or several houses. Everybody’s doin’ it!
It’s not fair that these enterpreneurs are being punished for being fearless risk-takers. Once again, meaningless, dull conformity to a 9-to-5 cubicle job is being rewarded, while the trailblazers of industry are punished. When there are no more trailblzers, what then? Some day society will beg us to return, but we’ll all be in prison for our brave efforts.”
That has to be one of the dumbest statements I have ever read. This guy defrauded 8,000 people out of 275 million but he is a risk taker? He is a trail blazer?
Posted by on 02/27 at 04:29 AM
Anyone who thinks that Ronnie Shepard has been unfairly prosecuted is has no brain !!!! This guy has been a crook from the get-go !There was nothing “innovative” about this guy, he got what he deserved.
Posted by on 06/12 at 04:47 AM
I worked for Homegold and they the owners used it for there own enjoyment never funded loans on time always trying to make the extra buck on every deal. hell they had a luxury bus they use to drive around the USA looking at there offices not to mention the jet and such.
they knew that the writing was on the wall they took the better of the branches and tried to start a new company which also failed.
they deserve what they get they stole the money and when the time came to payback there investors they tried to hide there mistakes.
so i say hang em high
Posted by on 06/24 at 06:45 AM
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24-7PressRelease.com - USA
US consumers looking to refinance their homes or to secure a home loan to purchase their dream homes would be well advised to educate themselves...
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The U.S. Justice Department has formed more than 40 mortgage fraud task forces nationwide as prosecutors and investigators struggle with a flood of mortgage-related criminal cases. The FBI reports that its mortgage-fraud caseload has more than doubled in three years to about 1,600 investigations that have cost lenders at least $4 billion. About 200 FBI agents are assigned to the cases, up from 120 a year ago.
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Herald Tribune
Sarasota attorney John Yanchek is expected to plead guilty to mortgage fraud next week, statements from a federal prosecutor and the judge presiding over the high-profile criminal case seem to indicate.
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News Inferno
Two former Bear Stearns hedge fund executives are slated to go to trial in September over charges that they lied to investors about two of the funds they managed
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Reported incidents of mortgage fraud grew by 45 percent in the second quarter compared with the year-ago period.
Report Finds Tampa No. 2 In Florida For Iffy Mortgages
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In a state that leads the nation in mortgage fraud, Tampa had the second most cases of suspicious loan activity of any Florida city, according to a report released this morning from the Reston, Va.-based Mortgage Asset Research Institute.
Mortgage Fraud Jumps by 45% on Fewer Loan Applications in U.S., Per... MARI
Cloud Computing Journal
Key findings from the MARI Quarterly Fraud Report include that fraud most often occurs at the beginning of the loan process. More than 65 percent of fraud incidents are attributed to "General Application Misrepresentation"
Seven Are Accused Of Identity Theft And Mortage Fraud
The Star Ledger, New Jersey
Seven people have been arrested in connection with an international identity-theft scheme that targeted home equity lines of credit and siphoned at least $2.5 million away from dozens of banks, including more than 10 in New Jersey, according to documents unsealed today.
Suthers Cracks Down On Mortgage Fraud
Rocky Mountain News - Denver, CO
Suther’s office also indicted 10 individuals last March in an $11 million mortgage fraud ring involving 34 local properties...Several other investigations of mortgage fraud are ongoing.
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Trial coverage provided by Anne Mitchell, Crazy Fish Realty.
U.S. v. Miller, et al.
Thursday, December, 18, 2008
Verdict:
F. Jeffrey Miller Guilty of Conspiracy and Money Laundering
Steven Vanatta Guilty of Conspiracy , Money Laundering and Bank Fraud
Hallie Irvin Guilty of Conspiracy , Money Laundering and Bank Fraud
Sandra Jo Harris Not guilty- all counts
More Trial Coverage
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