100+ Borrowers Ripped Off By Ex-Bank Exec, Mortgage Broker For Inflated Loan Fees Entitled To Restitution, Says Federal Court

In Sarasota, Florida, the Sarasota Herald Tribune reports:

• Federal appeals court judges ruled [earlier this month] that Coast Bank borrowers were indeed victims in the scheme that involved a former bank executive skimming money from their loans.

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• In his argument, [Sarasota attorney Alan] Tannenbaum invoked the Crime Victims' Rights Act on behalf of 104 Coast borrowers who he says deserve to share in any restitution [in a related criminal case]. Those customers were overcharged in their loans, and [Coast's former executive vice president Philip] Coon and [Tampa mortgage broker John Robert] Miller pocketed the money, the attorney says. That excess charge was spelled out in their loan agreements.(1)

For more, see Court rules Coast loan holders were victims.

(1) In a related criminal case, Coon pleaded guilty last month to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. Miller pleaded guilty in August. In their plea deals, each man will be ordered to pay more than $1.5 million in restitution.