NC Man Cops Conspiracy Plea In Alleged Ponzi Scheme-Like Fraud Costing Investors $100M+

In Charlotte, North Carolina, The News & Observer reports:

• The former president of a company involved in a failed real estate project that cost investors more than $100 million pleaded guilty [yesterday] to one count of conspiracy in U.S. District Court in Charlotte. Neil O'Rourke, 40, of Apex, held various positions at companies involved in the mountain development known as the Village of Penland, located about an hour northeast of Asheville. He became president of Peerless Real Estate Services in in 2004. O'Rourke pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge that included making a false application and statements in relation to loans, mail fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud and securities fraud. O'Rourke appeared today in Charlotte to formally enter a guilty plea.

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• According to the statement [issued by the Feds], O'Rourke participated in a conspiracy of investment and mortgage fraud: "The investment fraud scheme was carried out in a Ponzi scheme fashion, where new investor funds in the Village of Penland were diverted to make mortgage payments for other investors."

For more, see Apex man pleads guilty in real estate fraud case (no longer available online).

Go here for other posts on the alleged scheme underlying the failed North Carolina Village of Penland project. Tony Porter