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Metro Atlanta mortgage fraud ring convicted

A federal court jury has found several Atlantans guilty for their roles in a mortgage fraud ring that racked up $6 million in just 10 weeks from SunTrust Mortgage. Guilty verdicts came in late Monday against Keith Garner, 48, Gregg Savage, 24, Shalonda Harris, 36, all of Atlanta, and Latesha Garner, 27, of Durham, N.C., on charges of conspiracy to commit mortgage fraud and wire fraud related to $6 million in fraudulent real estate financing from SunTrust Mortgage Co. in summer 2006.

The defendants’ sheer greed is demonstrated by the fact that they obtained $6 million in fraudulent mortgage loans from a single lender in just 10 weeks,” said U.S. Attorney David E. Nahmias. “They were indicted several months after SunTrust Mortgage discovered their scheme, however, and, following a two-week trial, the jury convicted each defendant after only five hours of deliberation.”

According to court evidence, Keith Garner solicited his daughter, Latesha Garner, a loan processor with SunTrust Mortgage, in spring 2006 to handle fraudulent loan applications submitted on behalf of straw borrowers he recruited with co-conspirators. Because she was responsible for verifying borrower employment and asset information and approving closing documentation, Latesha Garner was uniquely positioned to defraud SunTrust Mortgage, which she did by falsely verifying borrower credentials and approving hundreds of thousands of dollars in false payoffs to her father. Keith Garner paid Latesha Garner $33,000 — a year’s salary — across four transactions to run the scheme.(More)

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