A real estate agent and two former loan officers are among 17 defendants indicted by a federal grand jury for their alleged roles in a $12.6 million mortgage fraud scheme involving 25 residential properties in Missouri.
Real estate agent Angela R. Clark and former mortgage loan officers Cynthia D. Jordan and Stefan M. Guerra are accused of conspiring with 14 property buyers to submit false information to mortgage lenders in order to purchase homes at inflated prices and pocket extra proceeds.
The buyers, who included six California residents, allegedly created shell companies to receive kickbacks of $60,000 to $125,000 per house from builder Jerry Emerick, doing business as Ty Construction and Residential Contracting LLC.
Lenders approved 25 loans totaling $12.6 million from June 2005 to May 2007, prosecutors said, with buyers funnelling off $2.34 million without their knowledge. Clark, 40, allegedly received approximately $381,495 in kickbacks, while the former mortgage brokers received commissions.
Prosecutors said they intend to file separate charges against Emerick, who allegedly calculated the return he wanted for the homes based on the cost of construction plus a "reasonable profit."
Clark then listed the newly built homes in Lee’s Summit and Raymore at inflated prices, prosecutors said, soliciting straw buyers with the help of Jerome Shade Howard, 39, of Anaheim, Calif.
The case is one of the largest mortgage fraud rings ever prosecuted by the United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri.
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