Thursday, November 10, 2005
Seven Indicted in Louisiana Mortgage Fraud Scheme
Seven individuals were indicted in Louisiana in connection with a mortgage fraud scheme in the Lafayette, Louisiana area that involved over 50 properties. The indictment alleges 65 counts of conspiracy, bank fraud and mail fraud against the following individuals:
Anthony T Grishby, mortgage broker, Lafayette, Louisiana
Howard McZeal, appraiser, Lafayette, Louisiana, operated McZeal’s Appraisal Services (indicted only on conspiracy and bank fraud charges)
Erin Broussard, secretary, Lafayette Louisiana
Renay Matthews, loan processor, Lafayette, Louisiana
Tameshia Matthews, loan processor, Lafayette, Louisiana
Shawn Hollier, loan processor, Leonville, Louisiana
Lori Moreau, loan processor, Scott, Louisiana
In addition, Toni Nicole Brown, 30, loan processor, Lafayette, Louisiana, was charged by information and pled guilty to misprision of felony in connection with her knowledge of and failure to report the scheme. In the factual basis filed with her guilty plea, she admitted that she participated in the scheme along with her coworkers and failed to report it to law enforcement.
Grishby was the president and managing partner of Infinity Mortgage Services, Inc., a mortgage brokerage in Lafayette, Louisiana that employed Broussard, Renay Matthews, Tameshia Matthews, Hollier and Moreau. According to the indictment, other businesses utilized to facilitate Grishby’s illegal loan brokerage activity included GSA Financial Services, Inc., First Premier Financial Services, First Chance Home Lending and Eminem Enterprise.
According to the indictment, from April 1, 1999 through November 30, 2001, the defendants fraudulently prepared and submitted loan applications to Bank of America via Equicredit Corporation of America for purchases of properties located in Lafayette, Carencro, Opelousas, Ville Platte, Lake Charles, Mamou, Jeanerette, Erath, Scott, Eunice, New Iberia, Loureauville, St. Martinville and Rayne, Louisiana. The fraudulent applications included false financial figures, false attachments, false social security award letters, false W-2 forms, false work histories, false VOMs and other false documents for unqualified borrowers.
Purchase transactions were represented as refinance transactions and supported by VOMs prepared and submitted by the defendants. Appraisals reflected artificially inflated valued by omitting the true selling price and falsely listing the borrower as current owner. Also, according to the indictment, McZeal doctored photographs to be used in the appraisals to hide inferior qualities and manipulated the comparable sales process by choosing home sales in different geographical regions to arrive at needed amounts. Loan proceeds were paid to fictitious creditor entities including GSA, First Premier and First Chance. As part of the scheme, Grishby set up a fax machines to send VOMs to the Infinity office in order to make them look authentic. Borrowers were assessed excessive charges for credit reports and appraisals, one borrower being charged $650 for an appraisal report that actually cost $450, according to the indictment.
The indictment references involved loans on the following property addresses:
4581 Hwy 358, Opelousas, Louisiana
501, NE Railroad, Ville Platte, Louisiana
124 Raceway, Carencro, Louisiana
W. Bernard Drive, Amaudeville, Louisiana
117 Beta Drive, Lafayette, Louisiana
15830 Highway 697, Abbeville, Louisiana
1117 Edith Street, Opelousas, Louisiana
900 Madeline Avenue, Lafayette, Louisiana
1220 Poppy Drive, Opelousas, Louisiana
109 Macon Road, Lafayette, Louisiana
1221 Peach Street, Ville Platte, Louisiana
609 N. Fontenot St., Ville Platte, Louisiana
504 S. Orange, Lafayette, Louisiana
398 Sunset Drive, Lafayette, Louisiana
4581 Hwy 358, Opelousas, Louisiana
1407 W. Peach St., Ville Platte, Louisiana
111 Rainbow Street, Carencro, Louisiana
8624 Pine Port Road, Ville Platte, Louisiana
260 Gerald St., Opelousas, Louisiana
419 Liberty Street, Eunice, Louisiana
1207 Edith Street, Opelousas, Louisiana
1600 Legion Street, Lake Charles, Louisiana
209 Chestnut Street, Mamou, Louisiana
206 N. Pellerin, Jeanerette, Louisiana
303 N. Wespoint Cir., Lafayette, Louisiana
403 Court Street, Ville Platte, Louisiana
12716 Neds Lane, Erath, Louisiana
N. Dossman, Ville Platte, Louisiana
1706 10th Street, Lake Charles, Louisiana
540 S. Pellerin, Jeanerette, Louisiana
809 Seventh Street, Mamou, Louisiana
124 Henry Drive, Opelousas, Louisiana
411 N. Reed Street, Ville Platte, Louisiana
120 Whitmore Road, Scott, Louisiana
540 S. Martin, Eunice, Louisiana
233 Brockton Drive, Carencro, Louisiana
302 Sonny Street, Lafayette, Louisiana
639 Robertson Street, New Iberia, Louisiana
1211 Sidney Blanchar, Loureauville, Louisiana
4846 River Ridge, Lake Charles, Louisiana
540 S. MLK Dr., Eunice, Louisiana
1103 Alexandria Circle, St. Martinville, Louisiana
710 Kahn Avenue, Rayne, Louisiana
502 Coriel, Ville Platte, Louisiana
314 E. Beech Street, Ville Platte, Louisiana
403 W. Carrier, Washington, Louisiana
502 English Drive, Lafayette, Louisiana
2305 3rd Street, Jeanerette, Louisiana
315 Berthier Street, Abbeville, Louisiana
108 Antoine Street, Ville Platte, Louisiana
728 Halphen, Opelousas, Louisiana
All defendants have appeared and entered pleas of not guilty. Trial is currently scheduled for May 8, 2006.
mortgage fraud
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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 
