Closing Attorney Admits Guilt In Flipping Scam; Cooperates With Georgia Feds

Law.com reports:

• A Marietta, Ga., closing attorney, who has admitted he was a member of a mortgage fraud ring that federal prosecutors say included more than a dozen people, is cooperating with the government in a trial that began [last] week in U.S. District Court. On Tuesday, federal prosecutors identified real estate closing attorney James F. Stovall III ... as the lawyer who finalized as many as 50 fraudulent home sales. The sales were part of a scheme that bilked banks out of at least $20 million in 2000 and 2001, prosecutors said.

• Stovall is the most recent Georgia attorney caught using his law practice to perpetuate mortgage fraud, ... . As a warning to other real estate lawyers, U.S. District Judge Thomas W. Thrash Jr. in 2005 sentenced disbarred DeKalb County attorney Chalana C. McFarland to 30 years in prison for her role in a mortgage fraud scheme that cost lenders more than $11.5 million ...

For more, see Lawyer to Testify in Mortgage Fraud Trial (Stovall admits involvement with ring that bilked banks in loan scheme).