A Kansas City, Mo., city councilwoman was one of three people indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday for their alleged roles in a mortgage fraud scheme.
City Councilwoman Saundra A. McFadden-Weaver, 47, was charged with conspiracy and wire fraud in the seven-count indictment, prosecutors said. Also indicted were mortgage broker Ricky L. Hamilton, 52, of Grandview, and Emanuel M. Kind, 51, a Kansas City resident.
According to the indictment, the defendants agreed that McFadden-Weaver would obtain a loan to purchase a home in Lee’s Summit, Mo., where Kind would reside and pay the mortgage and other expenses. McFadden-Weaver allegedly sought loans in excess of the listed sale price of the property to rehabilitate another home in Kansas City.
Hamilton allegedly brokered the loan for McFadden-Weaver knowing that she did not intend to live in the Lee’s Summit residence and would have no responsibility for the property, receiving a $21,865 commission.
Prosecutors said McFadden-Weaver signed a contract to purchase the Lee’s Summit home sight unseen for $400,000 on Sept. 13, 2005. Two weeks later, the city councilwoman signed loan applications totaling $400,000, allegedly providing false income information and misrepresenting that she would occupy the property as her primary residence.
At some point between October 2005 and June 2006, prosecutors said, Kind agreed to purchase the property for $430,000 in hand and $3,200 per month for the remainder of McFadden-Weaver’s life. McFadden-Weaver and Kind allegedly back-dated the document, claiming that it was signed the day after the closing.
In June 2006, McFadden-Weaver and Kind sought to refinance the Lee’s Summit property to avoid foreclosure, prosecutors said. By then, no mortgage payments had been made in more than five months, said Bradley J. Schlozman, United States attorney for the Western District of Missouri. According to some witnesses, Schlozman said, no payments were ever made on the property.
The Kansas City Star reported that U.S. Bank foreclosed on the Lee’s Summit property in August, and that the subsequent sale of the house netted $255,500.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is being prosecuted by assistant U.S. attorney Linda Parker Marshall.
