Four face years in Prison and must pay restitution
The United States Attorney General for the Eastern District of Michigan announced the sentencing of four individuals on September 4th for their conspiracy to committed mortgage fraud. Terrence Berg, Assistant United States Attorney General along with Andrew G Arena, Special Agent in Charge of the Detroit Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced the that Myron Hooker, Jr., 43, Peter Garland, 40, Nicole Jackson, 38, and Antwan Mcrea, 35, had been sentenced for their white collar crime of mail and wire fraud.
Berg stated that his office along with the Federal Bureau of Investigation is catching up with these fraudsters. The individuals that would attempt to defraud borrowers and mortgage lenders are going to see that this office doesn’t take fraud lightly and they will pay a price for their crimes. Berg believes that mortgage fraud poses a noteworthy threat to our economy and by prosecuting all mortgage fraud we demonstrate our commitment and the Federal Bureau of Investigations commitment to holding these individuals accountable.
Hooker, of Detroit, Michigan is accused of being the mastermind behind the scheme. He was sentenced by United States District Judge Julian Abele Cook. His sentence includes five years and three months for wire fraud and three years and three months for conspiracy to commit wire fraud. His sentence is to be served concurrently in a federal prison.
Garland who was sentenced previously for his role received two years and two months in federal prison.
Antwan Mcrea for his role received two years in federal prison.
Nicole Jackson was sentenced to serve one day in federal prison and three years on probation with an addition five months of home confinement.
Hooker, Garland and Mcrea were ordered to pay restitution in an amount of one million two hundred thousand dollars plus a special assessment amount per count of one hundred dollars. They all are required to be on probation for three years upon their release from prison.
Documents presented to the court show that Hooker conspired with the other defendants to knowingly defraud mortgage lenders. Hooker was the primary coordinator of the events and directed the others in the activities of recruiting straw buyers, sellers, property appraisers, and closing agents that would play their respective parts in the scheme.
Hooker obtained appraisals that had been inflated and submitted fraudulent applications for mortgage to lenders base on straw buyers that acted as property purchasers. Hooker falsified mortgage application data in order to show the straw buyers credit worthiness. Lenders unknowingly approved the loans that Hooker and his conspirators submitted with the inflated appraisals. The funds were distributed out to the title company and split up between the conspirators.
All the loans involved in the scheme have fallen into foreclosures and the lenders involved have estimated their losses over one million dollars.
Berg thanked the Federal Bureau of Investigation for their contribution to a successful prosecution.
