Pennsylvania Man Pleads Guilty to Two Mortgage Fraud Schemes

Terence Mayfield of Phoenixille, Pa., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Joseph H. Rodriguez to charges stemming from his role in operating two ponzi schemes upon members of a Toms River church. The first defrauded members of the Church of Grace and Peace of more than $1 million through a phony real estate investment scheme. In this scheme, Mayfield spoke to church members about an investment opportunity he had developed through investments in income-generating real estate. He required each potential investor to pay between approximately $1,000 and $1,500 as an "entry fee" to the program and that they provide the investment funds directly to him. Mayfield neither maintained the funds in escrow accounts nor purchased investment properties, but rather used the investors' funds to repay earlier investors and to pay his personal expenses. The second scheme defrauded three sets of homeowners, who participated in three "foreclosure bailouts" purportedly involving two properties in Georgia and one in Pennsylvania, of more than $75,000. In this scheme, Mayfield solicited potential investors to buy homes facing foreclosure and lease the homes back to the homeowners for a two-year period. The homeowners would place two years' worth of rent payments into an escrow account maintained by Mayfield as a security deposit. At the closing of the foreclosure bailout transactions, Mayfield directed the homeowners to directly deposit funds intended for an escrow account into his company's bank account. He again used these funds for his own benefit. Judge Rodriguez released the defendant on a $100,000 bond pending sentencing, which is scheduled for July 14.