Appearing before U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee, a Las Vegas man admitted to conspiring to defraud residential mortgage lenders of hundreds of thousands of dollars by fabricating loan documents for the purchase and improvement of two properties located in Riverside County, Calif.
Lemuel Thornton, 36, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of money laundering.
According to the plea agreement filed in this case, Thornton engaged in an illegal scheme to defraud lenders who made residential mortgage loans. In early 2006, Thornton and his co-conspirators would obtain financing to purchase residential properties by preparing uniform residential loan applications for lenders, which contained false and misleading statements about income and employment.
For two of the residential properties purchased by Thornton and a co-conspirator, the financing would include funds designated for improvements to the property. Such improvement funds would be factored into the sale price of the property. Included in the purchase agreement would be instructions for the seller to credit an amount to a third party for upgrades and landscaping.
According to the plea agreement, Thornton and his co-conspirator submitted to the escrow companies fraudulent demand letters from sham companies, directing that specified funds be disbursed to the sham companies to be used for upgrades, construction, repairs, and landscaping for the property to be purchased.
Thornton and his co-conspirator would cause the money paid to the sham third-party company at the close of escrow to be wired from the escrow company into an account over which Thornton or his co-conspirator had control. The money would then be used for a purpose other than the improvements specified in the demand letters and the term of the loan.
Judge Gee is scheduled to sentence Thornton on Oct. 3, 2012. When sentenced, the defendant faces a statutory maximum sentence of 40 years in federal prison and fines of at least $750,000.
The investigation of Thornton was conducted by IRS-Criminal Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Los Angeles in conjunction with the United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.