Overland Park Man Sentenced for Mortgage Fraud

KANSAS CITY, KS—An Overland Park man was sentenced Monday to 24 months in federal prison for mortgage fraud, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said today.

Brian D. Jaimes, 43, Overland Park, Kansas, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. In his plea, he admitted he conspired with co-defendant Paul Hartfield to fraudulently obtain more than $1 million worth of mortgage loans.

Hartfield owned Hart Investments Inc., an Overland Park company that purchased depressed properties in order to rehabilitate them and sell them at a profit. Hartfield also owned Diamond Mortgage, an Overland Park company that acted as a mortgage broker for individuals. Jaimes was president of Diamond Mortgage from 2003 to 2006.

In order to reduce the debt of Hartfield Investments and to qualify to purchase more property, Hartfield recruited friends and family to purchase some properties. In most cases, the borrowers would not have qualified for a loan to purchase the properties. Hartfield used Diamond Mortgage as the mortgage broker with Brian Jaimes falsifying loan applications and other supporting documents by inflating the borrower’s income and assets to secure loan approval.

Jaimes was the loan officer on 11 fraudulently obtained mortgages for properties in Kansas City, Kansas; Kansas City, Missouri; and Lake Lotawana. The loans totaled more than $1 million.

Grissom commended the FBI, the Internal Revenue Service, the FDIC-Office of Inspector General, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jabari Wamble, and Assistant U.S. Attorney David Smith for their work on the case.