Virginia R. Novrit, 67, of Hilton Head, S.C., Clarence L. Davis, 68, of Hilton Head, South Carolina, Gregory J. Wings Jr., 25, of Atlanta, Olympia D. Ammons, 31, of St. Louis, Mo., and Ronald D. Martin Jr., 37, of Lithonia were sentenced this week by United States District Judge Beverly B. Martin on charges of conspiracy, bank fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering related to a multi-million dollar mortgage fraud scheme.
According to United States Attorney David E. Nahmias and the information presented in court: From late 2004 through early 2006, Novrit, Davis, Wings, Ammons, and Martin participated in a mortgage fraud scheme that involved millions of dollars in fraudulently inflated mortgage loans being provided to unqualified straw borrowers. The straw borrowers were paid as much as $600,000 per property from fraudulently obtained loan proceeds through shell companies. Novrit and Davis together obtained mortgage loans totaling more than $4 million within a six month period to purchase eight properties. Wings obtained mortgage loans totaling over $1.2 million to purchase a single property by providing the lender with false qualifying information. He also recruited a number of other unqualified buyers into the scheme and obtained a share of the fraudulently obtained loan proceeds from those transactions for doing so.
Ammons was a loan originator for "Ace Mortgage Funding," a national mortgage brokerage firm. he brokered fraudulent mortgages totalling over $7 million. Martin was paid $75,000 to act as a straw buyer and submit a fraudulent loan application for one property.
Four other defendants have already been sentenced to prison terms in related cases, and five more defendants await sentencing.
"These defendants and their co-defendants are responsible for causing millions of dollars in losses to mortgage lenders by artificially inflating the sales prices on million dollar homes and submitting fraudulent loan applications to fund the purchases of these homes," said Nahmias. "In cooperation with federal, state, and local law enforcement agents, we will continue to vigorously investigate and prosecute mortgage fraud schemes in the metro Atlanta area."
Novrit was sentenced to 3 years, 5 months in prison to be followed by 4 years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $839,585 in restitution. She was convicted by a jury Nov. 26, 2007, after a three week trial.
Davis was sentenced to 4 years, 3 months in prison to be followed by 4 years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $839,585 in restitution. He was convicted by the same jury.
Wings was sentenced to 10 years, 2 months in prison to be followed by 4 years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $8,577,845 in restitution. He pleaded guilty Sept. 7, 2007.
Ammons was sentenced to 5 years, 3 months in prison to be followed by 4 years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $7,549,044 in restitution. She pleaded guilty Oct. 2, 2006.
Martin was sentenced to 1 year, 1 day in prison to be followed by 3 years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $423,595 in restitution. he pleaded guilty May 16, 2007.
Labels: Mortgage, Mortgage Fraud, Prison
# posted by
Brian Vanderhoff @ 9:15 AM
