Kansas City Feds Indict 17 In Alleged "Cash Back" Mortgage Scam That Helped Local Builder Unload Unsold Inventory; 25 Homes, $12.6M Loans Involved

From the U. S Attorney's Office in Kansas City, Missouri:

• John F. Wood, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a real estate agent and two former loan officers in Lee’s Summit, Mo., are among 17 defendants(1) indicted by a federal grand jury today for their roles in a $12.6 million mortgage fraud scheme that involved 25 residential properties in Lee’s Summit and Raymore, Mo.

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• According to the indictment, the defendants were involved in buying and selling new homes in the Raintree and Belmont Farms subdivisions of Lee's Summit and the Eagle Glen subdivision in Raymore. Buyers allegedly purchased the homes at inflated prices, obtaining mortgage loans by providing false information to mortgage lenders, then keeping the extra proceeds. Buyers created shell companies for the purpose of receiving those kickbacks from builder Jerry Emerick, doing business as Ty Construction and Residential Contracting LLC, the indictment says, with kickbacks ranging from $60,000 to $125,000 on each house. Emerick will be charged separately for his role in the scheme.

For more, see U.S. Attorney (Kansas City, Mo.) press release: Real Estate Agent, Loan Officers Among Those Indicted For $12.6M Mortgage Fraud Conspiracy (Involved New Upscale Homes In Lee's Summit, Raymore).

See also, The Kansas City Star: 17 indicted in upscale mortgage fraud case (U. S. Attorney Wood noted that many of the 25 houses now are vacant and in foreclosure).

(1) Angela R. Clark, 40; James F. Simpson, 39; Cynthia D. Jordan, 41; and Stefan M. Guerra, 30; all of Lee's Summit; Ronald E. Brown Jr., 39, of Gladstone, Mo.; Enrico J. McClain, 36, of Kansas City; Daryle A. Edwards, 37, and Leon T. Jones, 42, both of Olathe, Kan.; Gerald D. Williams, 47, and his wife, Judith E. Williams, 47, both of Omaha, Neb.; Willie Charles Cadenhead, 38, of Grandview, Mo.; Jerome Shade Howard, 39, of Anaheim, Calif.; Michael Conrad Smith, 47, of Lancaster, Calif.; Cheryl Ann Romero, 50, of Santa Fe Springs, Calif.; Anahit Nshanian, 29, of Long Beach, Calif.; Mark Whitney Jackson, 48, of Woodland Hills, Calif.; and Steven M. Salas, 35, of Hacienda Heights, Calif. were charged in a 34-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Kansas City.