Mortgage players from several companies were caught up in a criminal fraud ring responsible for what has been called the largest mortgage fraud case ever in one Georgia community.
Seven of the 13 people indicted or convicted in the Bibb County $1.23 million mortgage fraud case work in the mortgage industry, court records show, including the owners of two mortgage brokerages.
A Bibb County grand jury indicted all 13 on two counts each of violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations. Among those indicted is a real estate closing lawyer who has been disbarred.
Prosecutors worked on the case for nearly two years.
Court documents show that the group worked in concert with lawyers, real estate investors and business owners to allegedly steal from mortgage lenders through loans on 22 properties. The scam went on from the June 2000 to the spring of last year.
The fraud ring was inflating property values on houses that were purchased by legitimate buyers. Not knowing the real price, since phony documents were used to apply for the loans, lenders were making loans for more than the properties’ were worth.
Sellers would receive their asking price on the properties, but then the fraud ring would pocket the difference between the actual sales price and inflated loan, prosecutors said in the indictments.
The buyers didn’t know what was going on, and were stuck with mortgage payments higher than they had agreed to. Several lost their homes because they could not afford the monthly payments, prosecutors said.
Some of the mortgage industry players have been convicted; others go on trial next year.
Dawson Andre Wise, 32, a mortgage loan officer, was given two years in prison and ordered to pay a $31,000 settlement.
Barry Weatherly, the owner of Ideal Mortgage Co. in Macon, was sentenced to 10 years probation and ordered to pay a $15,000 settlement.
Shirley Louise Thomas, a loan originator, was sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay $38,000 in restitution.
Tracy Ford Bryant, also a loan officer, has been convicted but has not been sentenced.
Still awaiting trial are loan originator William Frank Ivey; Paul Harrison, owner of Charter Brokers Mortgage Co. of Macon; and Clover Mae Ramos, a loan originator from Belize who may have fled the country.
Lawyer James W. Avant has also been convicted and sentenced to 135 days in jail and ordered to pay a $25,000 settlement. He has also been disbarred, according to a written ruling from the Supreme Court of Georgia.
Avant was the closing attorney on seven of the properties, representing Oakmont Mortgage Co. According to the court ruling Avant was not present at the closings, but signed documents — including HUD-1 settlement statements — stating he witnessed the closings.
“Avant admits he received attorneys’ fees from the closings even though he was not present,” the court found. “He further admits…the settlement statements did not reflect the actual agreements between the parties, contained false information and did not reflect the actual disbursements made after the closings.”
