Straw Purchaser Pleads Guilty
Kevin Scott Wiebe Knowingly Submitted False Documents in Exchange for $5,000
| U.S. Attorney’s Office March 14, 2012 |
LYNCHBURG, VA—A local man who knowingly submitted false mortgage documents as part of a broader fraud pled guilty this morning in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Lynchburg to related charges.
Kevin Scott Wiebe, 28, of Lynchburg, Virginia, waived his right to be indicted and pled guilty to a one-count information charging him with misprision of a felony pertaining to bank fraud by obtaining a mortgage loan by submitting false information in loan documents.
“Mortgage fraud is a persistent problem that afflicts all regions of this country. Those of us who work in the Department of Justice are using every tool we have to prevent, prosecute, and punish these crimes,” United States Attorney Timothy J. Heaphy said today. “This office is committed to prosecuting mortgage fraud and pursuing justice and restitution for its victims.”
According to evidence presented by Assistant United States Attorney Charlene Day, Wiebe worked for Timothy Brooks and Adam Spruill as an office manager. Brooks and Spruill have previously pled guilty to operating a scheme to find credit worthy individuals, or straw buyers, to apply for property loans and/or construction loans. The straw buyers were instructed to falsify loan applications to purchase lots and to obtain construction loans.
Wiebe, knowing his actions were illegal, was a straw buyer for Brooks and Spruill and received a $5,000 “good faith” payment for obtaining a loan. In his loan documents, Wiebe falsified his monthly income, created and produced his own verification for rent, falsified his employment, and inflated his bank account information.
At sentencing, Wiebe faces a maximum possible penalty of three years in federal prison and/or a fine of up to $250,000.
The investigation of the case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Postal Inspection Service, and the Internal Revenue Service. Assistant United States Attorneys Charlene Day and C. Patrick Hogeboom III are prosecuting the case for the United States.