Matthew B. Cox wanted to be a fiction writer.
As far as local, state and federal investigators in Florida are concerned, he got his wish. Only the fiction he wrote was on dozens of bogus documents he allegedly forged in a multimillion dollar mortgage scam.
Police in Tampa and Clearwater, the FBI and the Florida Office of Financial Regulation are investigating how Cox, who had already been convicted of federal and state charges for mortgage fraud, was able to pull off a whole new scam that involved at least 21 properties and $2.7 million in mortgage loans.
And that’s just what investigators know for sure. Tampa Police Det. Bill Todd thinks those numbers “are conservative.”
“This is a very active, very complex investigation,” Todd said in an interview. “We’re looking at fraudulent identities, stolen identities … and multiple people involved, and we’re investigating how more than one method was utilized.”
Neither the FBI nor state regulators could be reached to comment, but Todd confirmed their involvement.
“This is an ongoing case with us and the” FBI, he said. “The state has also done some things but I’m not sure where they are.”
All are focusing are Todd, who according to a series of stories published in the St. Petersburg Times was a former art student and budding writer. He had worked as a mortgage broker but was indicted in January of 2002 for his role in a complex scheme that included using bogus information to file a fraudulent loan application with a bank.
Todd said Cox is wanted for violating his probation on the federal and state mortgage fraud charges. Cox’s business license had also been taken away by state regulators.
But Cox allegedly had another scam going, one that involved a company he operated called Urban Equity Inc.
It involved using false names to obtain mortgage loans. Often times Cox was able to secure several loans on the same piece of property using fictional buyers and bogus information, Todd said.
For instance, at one point Cox was able to secure eight mortgage loans totaling nearly $1 million on a two-story apartment building in Tamp that he paid $210,000 for after putting just $9,500 down, according to the St. Petersburg Times investigation.
How did Cox get so many loans?
The paper reported that he used a notary that he made up, the signature of a fictional loan executive and the forgery of signatures of another loan officer and notary.
“I thought he was just another hardworking guy,” said Tampa-area lender Tom Martino, who told the paper his signature was forged on mortgage documents. “He looked like a nice little success story.
“It’s a scary, scary thought that people can get away with things like this,” Martino said. “It’s too easy to do. And it’s hard to detect. What’s really sad is that he was on probation when this happened.”
