St. Louis Feds Squeeze Guilty Plea From Alleged Rent Skimming, Sale Leaseback, Foreclosure Rescue Peddler Accused Of Causing $439K In Losses

In St. Louis, Missouri, the St. Louis Post Dispatch reports:

• Jeremy Beadle, president of Network Ventures, a real estate and mortgage company in St. Charles, pleaded guilty Wednesday of defrauding lenders and homeowners who were facing foreclosure.

• Beadle, 37, of St. Charles, admitted to one felony count of wire fraud before U.S. District Judge Rodney W. Sippel, who set sentencing for Jan. 21. Beadle faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Prosecutors said the case involved 10 properties with a total loss of $439,352.(1)

• Beadle also was manager of Premier Mortgage Funding, owned by Network Ventures, prosecutors said. In September, Rebecca J. Domecillo, an officer with Network Ventures, was sentenced to 27 months in prison for mail fraud in the schemes. Domecillo, 48, is from Lake Saint Louis. She and Beadle were indicted together in February.

Source: Mortgage broker admits fraud.

(1) According to the following excerpt from a February, 2010 FBI press release announcing the indictment, the alleged real estate fraud included bogus sale leaseback arrangements:

• Beadle also purchased properties from homeowners who were in financial difficulty and in danger of foreclosure. He falsely represented to these sellers that they could rent the property and remain in their homes, and that the mortgage would be paid using the rent payments made by the residents of the property. [...] However, he did not apply all the rent payments to the mortgage. Beadle failed to make the mortgage payments as agreed, and these properties were foreclosed, resulting in losses to the mortgage lenders.