North Carolina Conspiracy Victimizes Two Banks [Archive]

FraudNews

08-21-2011, 12:14 AM

For their role in mortgage fraud, three individuals, mainly a disbarred lawyer, a crooked loan officer and another man could possibly get long prison sentences. The fraud that they committed victimized two well known North Carolina banks. Sentencing will occur in the fall after all three individuals involved in the fraud pleaded guilty on a variety of count. In Raleigh, the US attorney’s office stated that they defrauded New Century Bank – a Dunn-based bank and Mount Olive-based Southern Bank where they caused losses amounting to over $ 1 million. Loans department bank officer Mark David Webb, 43, and Goldsboro real estate lawyer, William Devaughn Orander III worked at both banks. The fraud happened between the timeframe of 2004 and 2008 when both were employed at both banks. In the past year, the New Century Bank was also named as the fraud victim. This is then the second occurrence that New Century bank had fell victim to fraud after just few years. Nearly $5 million worth of losses have been reported last year by the New Century Bank in a different fraud case by its founding chair, Raymond Lee Mulkey Jr., where the bank lent their founder millions to operate finance companies that he owned. On this fraud scheme that involved Webb and Orander, they allowed borrowers to make a purchase of properties without having money of their own. They also allowed them to walk away from the closing table with more than 50% of the purchase price for property in cash. Prosecutors stated that there were a lot of instances where the money was paid to other members of the conspiracy. This was either done individually or using the real estate holding companies that the co-conspirators owned. As for Southern Bank’s losses, it amounts to nearly $284,000 with about $715,000 loaned out. The third party to this conspiracy, Robert Keith Parker, 46, pled guilty to the charge of making false statements just to influence financial institutions connected with the loan. It was Parker and Webb who falsified income tax returns to be able to qualify Parker’s wife to get a loan from Southern Bank.