Cleveland-Area Mortgage Broker Found Guilty, Two Others Cop Pleas In "Cash Back" Fraud Prosecutions

From the office of Cuyahoga County, Ohio Prosecutor Bill Mason:

• Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Bill Mason announced that James Sims and his mortgage broker company, County Home Mortgage of Ohio, were found guilty after a three-day bench trial for mortgage fraud offenses involving a house [...] in Solon that was fraudulently purchased with a $490,000 loan. [...] Sims is a co-defendant in another mortgage fraud case involving another Solon home that is set for trial on May 5, 2008.

• Just before the Sims trial, two other co-defendants, both mortgage brokers and their companies, pled guilty for their involvement in the Solon house and four other houses fraudulently purchased. Mortgage broker, Fred Watkins, of Premier Mortgage Ohio, pled guilty to three fourth degree felonies for three houses: two in Solon; and one in Pepper Pike. In addition, he agreed to plea guilty to 20 felonies for 20 other properties located in Solon, Glenwillow, and Cleveland. He faces a maximum sentence of 35.5 years in prison for these 23 houses which had a total loan value of $9,818,000. His loan officer/loan processor, Floyd Patterson, pled guilty to four misdemeanors involving 4 properties.

Watkins, along with title agency owner Shirley Rodgers, local builder Ed Emery, and straw buyer Eloise Anderson, all recently convicted for their involvement with Sims, testified against him.

For more, see Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's press release: Mortgage Broker Sims Guilty; Watkins Pleas Guilty to 23 Houses.

See also, Cleveland Plain Dealer: Mortgage broker James Sims is convicted; Frederick Watkins pleads guilty (Mason says they knew debtors couldn't pay).