Three in $12.6 Million Mortgage Fraud Case Plead Guilty

A trio of men have pleaded guilty to charges related to a $12.6 million mortgage fraud case involving 25 upscale residential properties in Missouri. Steven M. Salas of Hacienda Heights, Calif.; James F. Simpson of Lee's Summit, Mo.; and Willie Charles Cadenhead of Grandview, Mo., are among nine of 17 indicted defendants who have pleaded guilty to a scheme to buy and sell new homes built by Jerry R. Emerick at inflated prices, obtaining mortgage loans for more than the actual sale price by providing false information to mortgage lenders, then keeping the extra proceeds. According to the U.S. attorney's office for the Western District of Missouri, in the scheme, buyers created shell companies for the purpose of receiving kickbacks from Emerick (who pleaded guilty in April) of up to $125,000 on each house. During the course of the conspiracy, mortgage lenders approved loans for 25 homes totaling more than $12.6 million. From that total, buyers received approximately $2.3 million without the lenders' knowledge. Sentencing for the defendants will be scheduled after the U.S. Probation Office completes a pre-sentence investigation.