Inman

Texans indicted in alleged $2 million real estate fraud

A group of Texans were indicted in Dallas in connection with an alleged mortgage fraud scheme involving about $2 million in fraudulent loans.

The indictment, handed down by a grand jury in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas Dallas Division, charges Charles Cooper Burgess, Mark Manners, Robert L. Loeb and Andrew Siebert.

The four are charged with seven counts ofconspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud and bank fraud in an alleged conspiracy that ran from December 2002 through March 2004. The alleged operation involved at least six properties in Garland, Allen, Irving, Frisco and McKinney, Texas.

The indictment said the group would buy single-family residences, and then recruit straw buyers to purchase them. According to the indictment, the group then would submit fraudulent loan documentation to lenders in the name of the straw borrowers in an amount greater than the actual value of the homes.

This, the indictment contends, would cause inflated loan amounts to be funded by mortgage lenders and financial institutions. The so-called co-conspirators and others would then share the fraudulently obtained loan proceeds. The group would execute contracts promising to pay off the loan, but did not do so, according to the indictment.

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