John Myers and Adam Taff seemed exactly like the type of mortgage professionals that would appeal to most consumers.
Myers was the owner of National Mortgage Co. in Overland Park, Kan., a man described by friends and business associates as Christian dedicated to community service. He served on the Kansas City Crime Commission, a group of business and community leaders who describe their mission as making the community “a safer, more secure place to live.”
Adam Taff was a Navy aviator, commercial pilot, law student and politician who worked for the company Myers started. A Republican, Taff nearly won a 2002 Congressional race in Kansas’ 3rd District, losing to a Democratic incumbent by just 3.4 percent, and was gearing up for another run next year. Taff had also run in 2004, but failed to win the GOP primary.
“My mother raised me in the (Kansas City) area with the values that make us all proud to call this our hometown,” Taff wrote when he was named one of the region’s top 40 young leaders in 2003. “Hard work, honesty, integrity, respect for others and the virtue of giving back to the community.”
But those lofty resumes and high ideals are, at least temporarily, in tatters. Taff and Myers are facing federal criminal charges of mortgage fraud; Taff is facing an additional charge of violating federal election laws by allegedly using campaign money for his own use in trying to get a mortgage loan for a $1.2 million home.
“Taff and Myers devised a scheme to allow Taff to fraudulently obtain a mortgage to buy Myers’ house for $1.2 million,” according to an indictment issued by a grand jury in Kansas City.
Myers, 48, was chairman of Myers National Mortgage Co., an independent mortgage brokerage he started in 1997. Myers sold the company in 2000. Taff worked at the firm in 2003 between the runs for Congress he made in 2002 and 2004, according to federal prosecutors.
Taff was not a broker; he worked in community relations. In n his official campaign biography from the 2004 Taff touts his work at Myers National Mortgage.
“Adam (was) the national program manager at National Mortgage Co.” according to a written copy of the biography. “His professional experience in the small business sector…provides Adam with a solid understanding of how to secure and improve our tax system, our economy and our community for the future.”
Even though Myers sold his company, he became entangled in a complex fraud with Taff, prosecutors allege.
According to a federal indictment, Taff was running for Congress in January 2004 when he met with an agent from NovaStar Home Mortgage and signed a loan application. Taff had earlier signed a contract to buy Myers’ home in Lake Quivira, Kan., for $1.2 million.
On the application Taff indicated he had two personal bank accounts with balances of $61,746 and $250,000. But prosecutors say the money actually came from his campaign accounts.
“The two accounts actually were his campaign committee’s accounts and not his personal accounts, even though at the time he had made loans to his campaign totaling $125, 000,” prosecutors said in a written statement.
“The loan application also falsely stated that his monthly income was $15,000 although his actual income was approximately $6,500 a month,” prosecutors said.
In February 2004 Taff withdrew money from his campaign accounts and had a $300,000 check made out to Myers and his wife.
Taff and Myers then conspired with a closing agent to alter the check to make it payable to the title company. The agent sent a closing statement to NovaStar “falsely stating that Taff had paid $300,000 to the title company.”
Taff then took the $300,000 check and returned it to his campaign accounts.
Taff and Myers face up to 30 years in prison and fines of up to $1 million on the fraud charges. Taff also faces another five years in jail and another $250,000 fine for converting campaign funds for his personal use.
