Former NFL Player, Eight Others Charged in Mortgage Fraud Scheme

Eugene Lockhart, Jr., a former player with the Dallas Cowboys, has been charged, along with eight others, with running an alleged mortgage fraud scheme in the Dallas area from 2001 through 2005. In addition to Mr. Lockhart, the following defendants named in the indictment include: Lendell Beacham; William Randolph Tisdale, Jr.; Hubert Jones, III; Patricia Ortega Suarez; Suzette Switzer Hinds; Michael Anthony Caldwell; Donna Lois Kneeland; and Bryan J. Moorman. According to James T. Jacks, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas, the indictment alleges that the defendants, who were involved with several real estate entities, ran a scheme in which they located single-family residences for sale in the Dallas area -- including distressed and pre-foreclosure properties -- and negotiated a sales price with the seller. Prosecutors say they created surplus loan proceeds by inflating the sales price to an arbitrary amount more than the fair market value of the residence. The defendants, who were unavailable for comment, allegedly recruited straw borrowers and caused the loan applications for each straw borrower to include false financial information. The alleged scheme involved 54 fraudulent residential property loan closings resulting in the funding of $20.5 million in fraudulent loans.