Fraud and Prevention

Four Michigan Residents Sentenced for Mortgage Fraud Ring

By James Comtois
September 9, 2009

Four members of a Michigan-based mortgage fraud ring have been convicted and sentenced for obtaining fraudulent mortgage loans on numerous properties and splitting illegal proceeds in varying proportions among themselves.

U.S. District Judge Julian Abele Cook sentenced Detroit resident Myron Hooker, the lead defendant in the case, to serve 63 months in federal prison on wire fraud charges, and to serve 40 months concurrently for conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud.

The remaining defendants were convicted of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud and received the following sentences: Peter Garland, formerly of Southfield, Mich., was sentenced to serve 27 months in federal prison; Antwan Mcrea, of Detroit, was sentenced to serve 24 months in federal prison; and Nicole Jackson, formerly of Detroit, was sentenced to serve one day in federal prison, to be followed by three years supervised release and five months home confinement.

In addition to their custodial sentences, Hooker, Garland, Jackson and Mcrea were ordered to pay, in various amounts, $1.2 million in restitution, $100 in special assessments per count of conviction and must serve two or three years of supervised release upon the completion of their custodial terms.

According to Terrence Berg, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, Hooker conspired and agreed with the other defendants, to defraud and obtain money and funds from lending institutions, banks and individuals by obtaining fraudulent mortgage loans.

Hooker orchestrated the fraud by coordinating and directing the activities of loan officers, straw buyers, collusive sellers, real estate appraisers and closing agents, some of whom are also charged in the indictment. For instance, Hooker obtained falsely inflated appraisals on real estate and paid straw buyers to act as purchasers of the property.

To bolster the straw buyer's creditworthiness, Hooker provided false income and asset documentation. Relying on the falsely inflated appraisals and fraudulent documentation, lending institutions approved and disbursed loans.

These loans often subsequently went into default leaving the lending institutions with insufficient collateral and substantial losses, well in excess of $1 million.