Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Title Company Owner Sentenced

Bennie Clark, indicted earlier this year for his role in a mortgage fraud scheme centered around the illegal flipping of properties has been sentenced. Clark, who pled guilty in August of 2007, must serve a total term of 24 months in prison followed by 36 months of supervised release and pay $415,504.00 in restitution. The other three defendants indicted with Clark pled guilty earlier this year and have already been sentenced.

As previously reported by Mortgage Fraud Blog, Clark, Michael Jackson (pled guilty in March, 2007, sentenced to 5 years probation and restitution in the amount of $379,604), Robert Casey (pled guilty in March, 2007, sentenced to 5 years probation and restitution in the amount of $132,929) and Donna Brown (pled guilty in March, 2007, sentenced to 4 years probation) were indicted for their involvement in a mortgage scheme involving several St. Louis, Missouri, area properties. Additionally, Brown is charged with bankruptcy fraud.

Bennie Clark worked in the mortgage brokerage field as owner and operator of World Wide Financial, LLC, providing mortgage-related services at an office located in St. Louis County. Michael Jackson was a business associate. Donna Brown worked for Clark and World Wide Financial providing loan application processing and working with title companies. Robert Casey was a straw buyer for Clark and Jackson and had a personal relationship with Brown.

The indictment alleges that between November 2002 and October 2003, these four defendants devised a scheme to defraud mortgage lenders by having a straw buyer purchase residential properties and then resell those properties at a fraudulently inflated price to a second buyer. The values were inflated by securing false appraisals. Typically, the second buyer’s loan application included false representations. The sale to the second buyer was sometimes closed on the same day as the straw buyer’s purchase of the property. The closings were often conducted in “reverse order.” In this way, the proceeds from the second buyer’s loan were used to pay for the first straw buyer’s purchase. The straw buyer would then give the proceeds of the sale to Bennie Clark.

Finally, the indictment alleges that on March 13, 2003, Donna Brown filed a bankruptcy petition under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code in United States Bankruptcy Court in the Eastern District of Missouri and failed to disclose her employment with World Wide Financial, LLC and Bennie Clark.

Bennie Clark, Lake St. Louis, Missouri, was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit fraud, three counts of wire fraud, two counts of mail fraud and four counts of money laundering. Michael Jackson, Hazelwood, Missouri, was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit fraud, three counts of wire fraud and two counts of mail fraud. Donna Brown, Lake St. Louis, Missouri, was charged with one count each of conspiracy to commit fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud and bankruptcy fraud. Robert Casey, Lake St. Louis, Missouri, was charged with one count each of conspiracy to commit fraud, wire fraud and mail fraud.

If convicted, each conspiracy count carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and/or a maximum fine of $250,000; each wire and mail fraud count carries a maximum penalty of twenty years in prison and/or fines up to $250,000; and each money laundering count carries a maximum penalty of ten years in prison and/or a maximum fine of $250,000. The bankruptcy fraud count carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and/or fine up to $250,000.

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