Third mortgage fraud participant pleads guilty

A third individual indicted late last year pleaded guilty Tuesday to two mortgage fraud schemes in which he prepared false loan applications and illegally rerouted $1.27 million in loan proceeds.

Charles M. Davis was among six people indicted last November who combined were involved in three conspiracies. Two of those individuals - Scott Allen Kassebaum and Cheryl Kassebaum - pleaded guilty Aug. 3 and July 21 respectively. Shanda Lynn Moore, Steven Ray Spencer and Randall Lee Hall have pleaded not guilty.

In one scheme, Davis admitted to preparing and submitting false loan applications to lenders and routing the proceeds through Master Marketing Consultants, according to the plea agreement. He then returned a significant portion of the proceeds to the borrowers without the lender's knowledge after the loan closed. The applications overstated income, understated or omitted liabilities and falsely indicated that the borrowers would reside in the homes being purchased.

Davis' role in a second conspiracy was to facilitate the return of loan proceeds obtained from America's Wholesale Lender to borrowers. He was responsible for transmitting the proceeds electronically and depositing them into a bank account.

The readily provable economic loss attributable to Davis is between $1 million and $2.5 million, according to the plea agreement.

Davis could face prison time, fines and restitution on charges of conspiring against the U.S., wire fraud and spending proceeds obtained through wire fraud.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas C. Bunch.[[In-content Ad]]