Former Sarasota Loan Officer Pleads Guilty to Mortgage Fraud

TAMPA—United States Attorney Robert E. O’Neill announces that Scott S. Schuhriemen (38, Sarasota) today pleaded guilty to conspiring to make false statements to Branch Banking and Trust (BB&T), an FDIC-insured financial institution. Schuhriemen faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison.

According to the plea agreement, from 2006 to mid-2007, Schuhriemen conspired with other individuals, including R. Craig Adams and Richard Bobka, to knowingly make false statements on mortgage-related documents submitted to BB&T in order to obtain home equity line of credit (HELOC) loans on real property located in the Sarasota area. At the time, Schuhriemen served as a loan officer for BB&T and arranged loans for co-conspirators. On two occasions, in 2006, Schuhriemen falsely notarized mortgage documents for borrowers related to R. Craig Adams.

Fourteen other defendants, including R. Craig Adams, were sentenced in October 2012 for their roles in a large-scale, Sarasota-area mortgage fraud scheme that spanned over 10 years and involved tens of millions of dollars in fraudulent loans. To date, the investigation has yielded convictions of at least 19 individuals for conspiracy and/or mortgage fraud, including four other former bank loan officers.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the FDIC’s Office of Inspector General, and the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Cherie Krigsman and Christopher Tuite.