Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Kansas Man Indicted For Inflating Appraisals
James K. Lamm, 42, Olathe, Kansas, is charged with eight counts of wire fraud.
Lamm is accused of fraudulently inflating real estate appraisals so that mortgage loans would be approved that otherwise would not have been approved. In that way, Lamm increased his income from commissions on the mortgage transactions he handled.
According to the indictment, from July 23, 2001, to July 9, 2004, Lamm worked for the Bank of Blue Valley, which has six banking locations in Johnson County, Kansas. He was employed as a mortgage specialist for the bank’s online mortgage operation, which was called InternetMortgage.com. He was one of approximately 120 employees working in an office at 7900 College Boulevard, Overland Park, Kansas.
Lamm received emails from appraisers containing property appraisals. He forwarded the appraisals to another email address, altered them, and sent them back to his email address at work. The indictment alleges more than $1.5 million worth of mortgage loans were made as a result of the falsified appraisals.
If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000 on each count. The Federal Bureau of Investigation worked on the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly Hare and Assistant U.S. Attorney Marietta Parker are prosecuting.
mortgage fraud
I feel like Beneficial in Indep Mo on Noland Road, inflated my home appraisal, I do not know whom did it. they got it off of the internet supposedly. I have a copy of it. I have been attempting to get my house refinanced, as I have a % of 11 and I have found that my house really does not appraise at 123, as they say it did. I have a loan for 114,000 and change, and seems after paying on it for 6 months I owe just as much as when I took out the loan. I am in a mess here. I am trying to see what I can do to help myself out of this, as I am having difficulity buy groceries and medications. Some times it is one or the othe but not both. I live alone and it is very hard to make ends meet since my husband passed away in 2004. I have sturggled since then. I know this may be a different situation than the one above, but I felt that Beneficial sure did give me a raw deal on the appraisal of my home but I did not know that until this time when I am attempting to refiance and I was told that I owe more than ny house is acutally worth. thanks for listening. DMB
Posted by on 04/23 at 05:10 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.
More Trial Coverage
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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 
