IndyMac Bank has filed a lawsuit alleging it was defrauded on $20 million in Florida mortgages.
Los Angeles-based IndyMac named 41 Akron, Ohio, residents, VP Equity LLC of Stow, Ohio, two other Ohio firms and a Florida developer, appraiser and a law firm in a lawsuit the company filed in Summit County Common Pleas Court in northeastern Ohio.
IndyMac alleges that in a complex conspiracy involving several apparently fraudulent companies and straw buyers, the defendants “maliciously and illegally combined to induce IndyMac into funding the loan transactions,” according to a copy of the lawsuit.
The company also claims the defendants knew they were making false representations and concealed facts “that would have alerted IndyMac to the scheme.”
“These misrepresentations involved incomplete, false and misleading information concerning the creditworthiness of the borrower defendants and the collateral value of the … real estate,” IndyMac alleges. “These misrepresentations were intended to disguise the true nature of the loan transactions and the true borrower of the funds.”
IndyMac also claims the borrowers had no intention of paying back the money they borrowed.
Beginning in September of 2005, IndyMac said it began receiving a series of loan packages from VP Equity. Each loan was to finance the purchase of a vacant, single-family lot in a development in Panama City, Fla., a resort town on Florida’s panhandle.
“Each lot was purchased by an individual or a married couple for a price ranging from $350,000 to $590,000,” the company said. “The purchasers financed their purchases with loans ranging in amounts from $315,000 to $500,000.”
IndyMac said it made 28 loans totaling $10.5 million before discovering that the loans “were potentially fraudulent.” All told, IndyMac loaned “in excess” of $20 million on the project.
Representatives of VP Equity could not be reached for comment. The borrowers from Ohio were in on the scheme, IndyMac contends.
IndyMac investigated the alleged fraud by inspecting public records, visiting the properties, hiring an appraiser to review appraisals submitted as part of loan packages and questioning the borrowers.
“The borrowers, appraiser and title agents submitted these loan applications … with the intention that IndyMac would rely upon this false information and fraudulent documents and fund the loans,” the company said.
IndyMac is asking the court to award damages, nullify the loan agreements and made the defendants pay their principle balances.
