News Releases
NINETEEN INDICTED IN MORTGAGE FRAUD
June 08, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
David E. Nahmias, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, and James D. Vickery, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, announce that 19 defendants have been indicted by a federal grand jury on 21 counts, charging conspiracy, bank loan fraud, mail fraud, and wire fraud, relating to a mortgage fraud scheme that targeted the “4001 Cascade” subdivision in Fulton County. The 19 defendants are: MARCUS C. ALCINDOR, a/k/a “Christopher Alcindor,” 42, of St. Lucia; CHRISTOPHER BAKER, 40, of Canada; CARL BEST, 42, of New York City; CHERYL DENNY, 42, of St. Lucia; JEREMY DERCOLA, 29, of Douglasville, Georgia; FRED FARMER, 59, of Roswell, Georgia; MICHAEL FLAKE, 31, of Stone Mountain, Georgia; WESLEY GOLDEN, 57, of Atlanta, Georgia; RILEY GRAHAM, a/k/a “Riley Williams,” 39, of Detroit, Michigan; WENDELL HIGGS, 42, of Suwanee, Georgia; PHILLIP E. HILL, 49, of Blounstown, Florida; CORTNEY JACKSON, 49, of Detroit, Michigan; JAMES MOSS, a/k/a “Dr. James Moss,” 49, of Roswell, Georgia; JULIAN PEREZ, a/k/a “Tony Perez,” 49, of Roswell, Georgia; BRANT PETREE, 23, of Marietta, Georgia; ROBERT POWERS, 45, of Cumming, Georgia; ANNETTE SPEAR, 50, of Union City, Georgia; DAVID THOMAS, 46, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and DAVID VAN MERSBERGEN, 46, of Atlanta, Georgia. According to Nahmias and the indictment:
The indictment alleges that PHILLIP E. HILL was the owner and operator of “We Build Atlanta, Inc.,” “The Estate Firm, Inc.,” “Estate Artistians of Georgia, Inc.,” “Estates Atlanta, Inc.,” and other Georgia corporations and controlled the affairs of each such corporation. HILL held himself out to be a real estate developer, and either individually or through one or more of the corporations he controlled, purchased and sold numerous residential properties in the Atlanta area. HILL allegedly participated in a scheme to defraud Centrum Financial Services, Inc. related to a $1.3 million loan granted to the “Alcindor-Williams Group, LLC.” That loan was to finance the Alcindor-Williams Group’s purchase of 27 undeveloped residential lots in the “4001 Cascade” subdivision from Estates Atlanta, Inc. The principals of the Alcindor-Williams Group, LLC were defendants MARCUS C. ALCINDOR, RILEY GRAHAM and a third unindicted co-conspirator. The indictment charges that CHRISTOPHER BAKER, JAMES MOSS and JULIAN PEREZ also participated in the scheme to defraud Centrum. The scheme included submitting false documents to Centrum during the loan application process, including inflated appraisals, altered checks, false marketing plans and making false statements regarding the down payment and investment of the Alcindor-Williams Group, LLC in the property.
The indictment also charges conspiracy, bank loan fraud, wire fraud and mail fraud related to mortgages obtained on the sale of 13 homes in the 4001 Cascade subdivision. These homes were all owned at one time by one of the PHILLIP HILL entities. Each home was sold at an inflated price to a “straw purchaser” who applied for a mortgage loan based upon the inflated price. Such a fraudulent transaction is called a mortgage “flip.” The straw purchasers who participated in these mortgage flips were paid a kick-back out of the excess loan proceeds for the use of their name and credit. The victim lenders granted the loans based upon numerous false representations and documents regarding the credit qualifications of the straw purchaser as well as false representations that the straw purchaser had paid a down payment, would reside in the home, and would be responsible for the loan payment. Some of the homes were “flipped” more than one time. The indictment charges that Atlanta Sky View Living Management, LLC, a Georgia company operated by defendants JEREMY DERCOLA and JULIAN PEREZ, participated in these secondary “flips.” The straw purchasers charged in the indictment include DAVID VAN MERSBERGEN, a HILL business entity employee; ANNETTE SPEAR; CHERYL DENNY; CARL BEST; and CORTNEY JACKSON. DAVID THOMAS was also charged as a recruiter of several of these straw buyers for HILL. In addition, the indictment charges former Georgia appraisers FRED FARMER and JULIAN PEREZ, and mortgage brokers MICHAEL FLAKE, WES GOLDEN, WENDELL HIGGS, JULIAN PEREZ, BRANT PETREE, and ROBERT POWERS based upon their participation in the scheme to defraud the victim lenders.
United States Attorney David E. Nahmias said, “This indictment is one more important step forward in the fight to expose and eradicate mortgage fraud schemes in the Atlanta area. Our investigative agencies continue to work on the paper and money trails to identify the network of criminals who are at the core of these multimillion dollar schemes that are gutting our neighborhoods.”
Members of the public are reminded that the indictment contains only allegations. A defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government's burden to prove a defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
This case is being investigated by Special Agents of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation.
Assistant United States Attorney Barbara Nelan is prosecuting this case.
For further information please contact David E. Nahmias (pronounced NAH-me-us), United States Attorney or F. Gentry Shelnutt, Chief, Criminal Division, through Patrick Crosby, Public Affairs Officer, U.S. Attorney's Office, at (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the HomePage for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia is www.usdoj.gov/usao/gan.