Home Cleveland Press Releases 2010 Twenty-Six People Charged or Plead Guilty in Northern Ohio as Part of “Operation Stolen Dreams”
Info
This is archived material from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) website. It may contain outdated information and links may no longer function.

Twenty-Six People Charged or Plead Guilty in Northern Ohio as Part of “Operation Stolen Dreams”

U.S. Attorney’s Office June 17, 2010
  • Northern District of Ohio (216) 622-3600

Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, today announced the results in Northern Ohio of “Operation Stolen Dreams,” the national mortgage fraud sweep organized by the Mortgage Fraud Working Group of the President’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. The cases made as part of “Operation Stolen Dreams” highlight the significant threat posed by mortgage fraud to the nation's financial system, the ongoing law enforcement response, the impact of civil enforcement mechanisms, the outreach efforts of the Working Group, and the United States Attorneys’ assistance to the victims of these frauds.

The following were either charged, pled guilty or were sentenced in a mortgage fraud related cases:

DEFENDANT ROLE STATUS NUMBER OF PROPERTIES LOAN AMOUNT
United States v. Kimberly Wilson, et al.
Kimberly Wilson Loan Officer Charged 4/27/2010
Pled 6/15/2010
28 located in Cleveland, Shaker Heights and Warrensville Heights $3.25 million
Lavon Ruderson Appraiser Charged 4/27/2010
Wesley D. Rahmon Appraiser Charged 4/27/2010
Robert M. Wilkes, Jr. Appraiser Charged 4/27/2010
Antoinece Robin Boyd Tax Preparer Charged 4/27/2010
Pled 6/15/2010
Michael Boyce Seller Charged 4/27/2010
Beyond Wynn Seller Charged 4/27/2010
Pled 6/17/2010
Darlena Rogers Real Estate Agent Charged 4/27/2010
Drummell Coffey Straw Buyer Charged 4/27/2010
Lawrence Calloway Straw Buyer Charged 4/27/2010
Gerald Ford Straw Buyer Charged 4/27/2010
Nafessah Walker Straw Buyer Charged 4/27/2010
Travis Haynes Straw Buyer Charged4/27/2010
United States v. Jason E. Davis, et al.
Russell E. Krouse Loan Officer Charged 4/30/2010
Pled 5/18/2010
13 located in Elyria and Lorain $1.12 million
Jason E. Davis Seller Charged 4/30/2010
Pled 5/18/2010
Harry L. Gongloff Seller Charged 4/30/2010
Pled 5/21/2010
Steven M. Taylor Seller Charged 4/30/2010
Pled 6/09/2010
United States v. Paul Lesniak, et al.
Nicholas Myles Mortgage Broker Pled Guilty 4/13/2010 34 located in Cleveland $3.27 million
David Pirichy Loan Officer Pled Guilty 4/13/2010
Anthony Capuozzo Title Agent Pled Guilty 3/10/2010
Kathryn Clover Straw Buyer Pled Guilty 3/10/2010
Paul Lesniak Straw Buyer Pled Guilty 4/29/2010
United States v. Johnny Suggs, et al.
Doris Strickland Straw Buyer Pled Guilty 5/07/2010 4 located in Cleveland and Shaker Heights $1.7 million
Debra Anthony Loan Officer Pled Guilty 05/25/2010
United States v. Anthony Jerdine, et al.
Diana Coomer Loan Officer Pled Guilty 6/16/2010 2 located in South Russell and Pepper Pike $3.4 million
Terry Smith Straw Buyer Pled Guilty 6/14/2010

Details on selected cases:
United States v. Kimberly Wilson, et al.

Kimberly Wilson and Antoinece Robin Boyd pled guilty on Tuesday, June 15, 2010, and Beyond Wynn pled guilty on Thursday, June 17, 2010 in a mortgage fraud scheme involving 28 properties throughout the Cleveland area and over $3.25 million in mortgage loans. Pursuant to the plea agreements, each defendant plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud based on each defendants’ role and participation in the mortgage fraud scheme.

Wilson, age 37, currently resides in Shaker Heights, Ohio. Boyd, age 39, currently resides in Cleveland and Beyond Wynn, age 36, currently resides in Shaker Heights.

The plea agreements state that from June 2005 through January 2007, Wilson, Boyd and Wynn conspired with 10 other defendants to fraudulently purchase 28 properties in the Cleveland area, securing over $3.25 million in mortgage loans. Wilson admitted in her plea agreement that as a loan officer for Park Mortgage she completed and submitted fraudulent loan applications in the names of straw buyers (individuals who applied for mortgage loans on a property, but never intend to live in the home). Wilson induced the straw buyers to participate by promising them they could purchase the properties with no money down and the straw buyers could receive cash back at closing. The straw buyers included Defendants Drummell Coffey, Lawrence Calloway, Gerald Ford, Nafessah Walker, and Travis Haynes, whose employment, income and assets were falsified in almost every loan application and who concealed the source of the down-payment funds in order to obtain the financing to purchase the 28 properties. Wilson further admitted in her plea agreement that the appraised value of the properties were significantly increased over the true market value of the properties so that Wilson, through her companies, Suburban Home Care and Landscaping, LLC and Dakaliote, LLC, could profit by obtaining the excess funds from the mortgage loans for her personal use, and the use of other defendants.

Boyd, a tax preparer, admitted through her plea agreement that she assisted in the scheme by falsely verifying employment for Defendants Drummell Coffey and Nafessah Walker through her tax preparation company, Boyd Management, in order for them to qualify for mortgage loans. Wynn, seller of ten of the properties, admitted through his plea agreement that he was aware of, and profited from, the sale of his properties to the straw buyers at the inflated values. Wynn purchased the properties at a reduced rate and did little to none of the rehabilitation work on the properties alleged in the appraisals in order to substantiate the inflated purchase price for each property.

The defendants’ fraudulent conduct induced Long Beach Mortgage Company, Argent Mortgage Company, LLC, New Century Mortgage Company, WMC Mortgage Company, and Aegis Mortgage Company to fund the mortgage loans. The victim companies suffered a total loss of approximately $1,942,971 as a result of defendants’ scheme.

The defendants’ sentences will be determined by the court after consideration of the plea agreements, review of factors unique to this case, including the defendants’ prior criminal records, if any, each defendants’ role in the offense, and the characteristics of the violation. In all cases the sentences will not exceed the statutory maximum and in most cases they will be less than the maximum.

"Mortgage fraud is one of the top priorities of this office because of the far reaching and devastating economic impact on our community,” Dettelbach said. “We are focusing a significant portion of the office’s resources, along with our law enforcement partners, to find and prosecute the perpetrators of mortgage fraud in Northeast Ohio with a goal of eliminating it."

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mark S. Bennett, following an investigation by the Cleveland Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

United States v. Anthony Jerdine, et al.

Diana Coomer pled guilty on Wednesday, June 16, 2010, and Terry Smith pled guilty on Monday, June 14, 2010 in the mortgage fraud case entitled United States v. Anthony L. Jerdine, et al. Coomer, the loan officer, pled guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and Smith, one of the straw buyers (an individual who applied for mortgage loan on a property, but never intend to live in the home), pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud.

Diana Coomer, age 46, currently resides in West Chester, Ohio. Terry Smith, age 35, currently resides in Cleveland.

The Superseding Indictment returned on April 8, 2009 alleged that during the period from about August 2007 through December 2007, defendants Anthony L. Jerdine, Joseph Jones, Terry Smith, Roberto Baez, William J. Werner, Marilyn Mannarino, Diana Coomer, Ephrian Chestnut, Nicholas Tate, Joel A. Bronstein, Christopher Irby, and Jeffrey Myers conspired in a mortgage fraud scheme involving two properties: 7261 Hillbrook Lane, South Russell, Ohio, and 7 Pepper Creek, Pepper Pike, Ohio.

With regard to the Hillbrook Lane property, the Superseding Indictment alleged that as part of their conspiracy, Anthony L. Jerdine purchased this property on August 31, 2007 through a land trust agreement for $710,000, and then “resold” the property the same day for $2,000,000 to defendant Terry Smith, based on a fraudulent appraisal report provided by defendant William J. Werner. The Superseding Indictment further alleges that defendant Terry Smith, through defendant Diana Coomer, completed and submitted a false and fraudulent loan application which falsified his employment, overstated his income, overstated his monthly rent, overstated his assets, falsified his intent to occupy the property and concealed the source of the down-payment funds in order to obtain the financing to purchase the property located at 7261 Hillbrook Lane, South Russell, Ohio. The Superseding Indictment also alleged that defendant Marilyn Mannarino, a licensed title agent through the State of Ohio, served as the title agent on the property through Professional Settlement Services and conspired with the defendants to allow the mortgage loan to be funded before collecting defendant Terry Smith’s down payment money at closing, before collecting the $710,000 payment from defendant Anthony L. Jerdine for the initial purchase of the property and failed to properly distribute the mortgage proceeds at closing. The Superseding Indictment further alleged that defendant Ephrian Chestnut, as CEO and President of

Tax Consultants, completed a fraudulent Verification of Employment (“VOE”) on behalf of defendant Terry Smith, stating that Smith had been a client for six years and was self-employed as the owner of BSM Financial, Inc. The Superseding Indictment alleges that the defendants did all of this in order to deceive and defraud Washington Mutual Bank into funding the $2,000,000 purchase price with a mortgage loan of over $1.5 million.

With regard to the Pepper Creek property, the Superseding Indictment alleged that as part of their conspiracy, Anthony L. Jerdine recruited defendant Nicholas Tate to be the straw buyer of the 7 Pepper Creek, Pepper Pike, Ohio property and again conspired with defendant Coomer as the loan officer to complete a fraudulent mortgage loan application. The Superseding Indictment further alleged that defendant Tate, through defendant Coomer, completed and submitted a false and fraudulent loan application which falsified his employment, overstated his income, overstated his assets, falsified his intent to occupy the property and concealed the source of the down-payment funds in order to obtain the financing to purchase the Pepper Creek property. The Superseding Indictment further alleged that defendant Jeffrey Myers provided a fraudulent appraisal report to assist in the mortgage fraud scheme. The Superseding Indictment also alleged that defendant Mannarino also served as the title agent on the Pepper Creek property through Professional Settlement Services and conspired with the defendants to allow the excess mortgage loan proceeds of $365,000 to be improperly distributed at closing to defendant Jerdine’s company, “A.L.J. Holdings”, as well as conspired to conceal the fact on the HUD-1, or settlement statement, that defendant Jones provided Tate’s down payment funds. The Superseding Indictment alleges that the defendants did all of this in order to deceive and defraud Washington Mutual Bank into funding the $1,325,000 purchase price with a mortgage loan of over $1.0 million.

Defendant Coomer admitted to her role in the mortgage fraud scheme with regard to both properties. Coomer admitted to conspiring with Jerdine to complete and submit the mortgage loan applications in both Smith’s and Tate’s name containing the false information alleged in the Superseding Indictment, as well as the fraudulent documents provided by Jerdine in support of the loan applications.

Defendant Smith also admitted to his role as a straw buyer of the Hillbrook Property and in the submitting of the loan applications containing the false information alleged in the Superseding Indictment as part of the mortgage fraud scheme.

Defendant Coomer’s and Smith’s sentences will be determined by the Court after review of factors unique to this case, including the defendants’ prior criminal records, if any, each defendant’s role in the offense, and the characteristics of the violation. In all cases the sentences will not exceed the statutory maximum and in most cases it will be less than the maximum.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mark S. Bennett, following an investigation by the Cleveland Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

This content has been reproduced from its original source.