Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Three Sentenced in Georgia Mortgage Fraud Scheme

Stacey L Shefton, 35, Michael D Dunn, 41, and Willie J Anderson, 39, were sentenced in connection with a Georgia mortgage fraud scheme that resulted in a loss of over $300,000. 

Each defendant was charged with participating in a scheme to defraud a mortgage lender by orchestrating a fraudulent purchase and sale of a property in Alpharetta, Georgia.  Specifically, the defendants arranged to have individuals come to the office of an Augusta, Georgia closing attorney and pose as the actual owner and purported buyer of that property.  That property, however, had already been sold the week before by the legitimate owner.  The mortgage company, not realizing that the property had already been sold, released proceeds totaling approximately $316,000, proceeds that Shefton and Dunn converted to their own use.  Anderson and Shefton each earlier pled guilty to one count of wire fraud.  Anderson, who provided Shefton with the down payment money to complete the fraudulent transaction, earlier pled guilty to misprision of felony (failing to report a felony to authorities). 

Shefton also acknowledged his involvement in an Atlanta, Georgia mortgage fraud scheme that involved a loss of approximately $726,000.  The district judge, noting Shefton’s cooperation with the Government’s investigation, sentenced Shefton to 48 months imprisonment, followed by 3 years supervised release, and ordered him to pay restitution in the amount of $1,062,450.80 to the victims of his mortgage fraud activities.  Shefton’s co-defendant, Michael Dunn, was sentenced to fifty-one months imprisonment, followed by three years supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $338,084. Anderson, whose role the Government characterized as much more limited in scope, was sentenced to five years probation and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $17,530. 

The district court also entered a preliminary order of forfeiture relating to assets previously held by Shefton, assets that included a 2005 BMW, a 2005 Land Rover, a 2006 Mercedes, and $300,000 in cash seized when agents executed a search warrant in the case.

mortgage fraud