Five Charged With Mortgage Fraud in North Carolina

Daniel Adam Rooks, his father Alford Eugene Rooks, Stanley Garfield Williams, Jr., Henry Clay Blake, Jr., and Cynthia Tilley Greer, all from North Carolina, have been charged for scheming to obtain money and property from homebuyers and lenders by materially false and fraudulent pretenses. According to the indictment, from approximately January 1998 until April 2004, Daniel Rooks bought about four tracts of land in Whiteville, N.C., subdivided the properties, put trailers on them and sold them to low-income people from around the area. He originally sold these properties with the aid of family members. He then partnered with two mortgage brokers, Mr. Williams and another individual out of Greenville, N.C., to finance the mobile homes. Daniel Rooks lied to the buyers about the estimated cost of the property, the payment amounts and his ability to secure loans. After taking their Social Security numbers and names, he would turn the information over to Mr. Williams and the other broker, who would falsify the loan applications, sending them in for approval. Mr. Blake, a registered property appraiser, prepared false and inflated appraisals of parcels of property that were submitted to mortgage lenders. Ms. Greer, a paralegal and notary, prepared and notarized real estate documents and arranged and conducted real estate closings, sometimes without the borrower's knowledge or presence and disbursed settlement checks. After the first round of sales were foreclosed, Mr. Williams began buying up the foreclosed property, finding new buyers or getting straw buyers whose names and Social Security numbers he could use to sell them all over again. More than 100 loans allegedly were secured and approximately $6 million in fraudulent funds were received.