Mortgage Broker/Real Estate Agent Gets 30 Months For Running Home Equity Refinancing Ripoff; Ordered To Cough Up $200K+ In Victim Restitution

In Greeneville, Tennessee, the Knoxville News Sentinel reports:

• A Florida man convicted of a nearly two-year mortgage fraud and money laundering scheme in Greene and Cocke counties was sentenced Thursday to more than three years in prison. Thomas Duane Roderick, 44, of Wesley Chapel, Fla., not only received 37 months in prison he was also ordered to pay more than $200,000 in restitution to his victims. Roderick had previously pleaded guilty to charges of wire fraud, mail fraud, bank fraud and money laundering in U.S. District Court in Greeneville.

• According to an indictment, Roderick, a mortgage loan broker and real estate agent in Greeneville, devised a scheme to defraud clients. He worked with Premier Mortgage from 2005 until 2007 in Greeneville and used various real estate closing agencies in Greene County. At the closings, Roderick would provide fraudulent legal documents for the signature of the clients seeking loans, and the closing agency would disburse funds as required by the lending institution.

• He set up a sham investment company, entitled MSI Inc., and used a bogus checking account to capture money from clients. Roderick caused one victim to wire $20,000 to MSI, falsely telling her that she would owe taxes on the $20,000 equity she received from the refinancing of her home mortgage. He convinced her that if she turned the funds over to him, he would invest the money to avoid taxes.

• Roderick never invested the funds and immediately withdrew them after the wire transfer, and spent them for his own benefit.

Source: Florida man gets 3 years in mortgage fraud scheme.