Three arrests related to alleged mortgage fraud schemes were made in one week at the scene of two separate real estate closings in Fulton County, Ga., officials said last week.
Damon J. Robinson, 35, was arrested March 21 when he arrived at a closing attorney’s office in Alpharetta to finalize the purchase of a $225,000 house in southeast Atlanta, according to Fulton County District Attorney Paul L. Howard Jr. and City of Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington.
Prior to the closing transaction, officials alleged, Robinson had submitted forged Wachovia Bank statements in connection with his loan application to the AmTrust Mortgage Corp.
According to Robinson’s allegedly falsified statements, he had nearly $450,000 in his bank accounts, officials said. These bank statements contained numerous inconsistencies, however, which were detected by AmTrust’s Quality Control Department, according to officials.
The problem was reported to the District Attorney’s Mortgage Fraud Unit and the Police Department’s Major Fraud Division the day before the scheduled closing, officials said.
When Robinson arrived at the closing, detectives from the Atlanta Police Department were waiting for him, and he was charged with residential mortgage fraud, officials said.
Quintin Chandler, 27, and Takeisha Randolph, 26, were arrested March 25 when they showed up at a closing attorney’s office in north Fulton County, Ga., officials said.
Randolph was the real estate agent purporting to represent the seller in the allegedly fraudulent transaction, officials said, and Chandler represented himself as the buyer of a house located at 716 Windsor St. in southwest Atlanta, according to officials.
The home was allegedly valued at $315,000, officials said. Prior to the closing, Chandler reported allegedly fictitious financial information in the form of forged W-2 forms and paycheck stubs and provided a false place of employment to SouthStar Funding, the mortgage lender, officials said.
Chandler claimed that he had been working at a company called Universal Management Unlimited in Lithonia, but the address he gave for the employer turned out to be a mailbox rented by Randolph, officials said.
Chandler, currently on parole for armed robbery, had been in prison for the period of time that he reported the false income and employment records, officials said. This was the second property that Randolph and Chandler had purchased using the same allegedly false financial information within the last 30 days, officials said. Chandler and Randolph were charged with racketeering, residential mortgage fraud and forgery.
“These arrests clearly send the message we want to convey: Regardless of your role in these fraudulent transactions, you will be held accountable,” said District Attorney Howard in a statement. “Mortgage fraud threatens the financial viability of entire segments of our community, and it is time for those responsible to realize that Fulton County is not the place for them.”
