James Rucker, mortgage broker, Chicago, Illinois admitted to his role in a scheme to defraud lenders of over $900,000 through more than a dozen mortgage transactions in Illinois between 1998 and 2002. The plea agreement indicates that Rucker and his co-conspirators used shell companies, false income, misrepresented asset documentation and fake down payment information in order to originate loans on these properties. In some cases they also obtained fees payable to themselves, aliases or shell companies in order to extract additional equity from the transactions. According to the indictment, the defendants worked for Ravenswood Mortgage, Design Mortgage Corporation and/or Comprehensive Mortgage Corporation.
It appears through court records that Rucker is the last of the eight individuals indicted on January 22, 2004 to have pled guilty in this scheme. Three have been sentenced to jail time and one to probation while over $740,000 in total restitution is required.
Rucker’s alleged co-conspirators are:
Virgil Griffin – Pled guilty, sentenced to 8 months jail time, 2 years supervised release and over $200,000 restitution
Tina Hoard – to be sentenced on June 23, 2006
Gregory Jacobs – to be sentenced on June 23, 2006
Stephen Lawhorn – Pled guilty, sentenced to 30 days jail time, 3 years supervised release and over $80,000 restitution
Patricia Mays – Pled Guilty February 23, 2006
Carmen Perry – Sentenced to 24 months jail time, 3 years supervised release and over $280,000 restitution
William Scott – Pled Guilty, sentenced to 3 year probation and over $180,000 in restitution
Involved properties:
2909 Walnut, Chicago, IL
422 Leamington, Chicago, IL
6712 S Aberdeen, Chicago, IL
436 Leamington, Chicago, IL
422 Central Avenue, Matteson, IL
675 Primrose, Matteson, IL
16041 Red Cloud Dr, Lockport, IL
4732 S St Lawrence, Chicago, IL
15305 S Afton, Markham, IL
9929 S Lowe, Chicago, IL
1459 Hawk Dr, Bolingbrook, IL
648 Larkspur Ln, Matteson, IL
6138 S May, Chicago, IL
Great news bit. In the end you reap what you sow! I wonder what the total sentence of Rucker is going to be for this kind of fraud…
I thought you would be intrested in reading this infomation on Mortgage Blog about Stephen Lawhorn the Thomas’s mortgage broker.
Hope you will have a great weekend.
Paula Yarbrough
My Wife and I purchased this property on March 31, 2004 as a foreclosure. I have lived in this property for over 4 years and for the last 2 years I have been having trouble with perspective buyers telling me that I am involved with mortgage fraud! I am going to list it again. I would appreciate it if you would remove our home from this mortgage fraud list because it has caused difficulties with the sale! The property is now worth over $425,000.00 and people are calling us crooks because of web sites like yours. This is defamation of character based on an address owned by someone else prior to us. This is a terrible thing and I have contacted our attorney about this matter!
648 Larkspur Lane in Matteson is a beatifully updated home since its’ purchase in 2004! It has hardwood floors on the main level with an added bedroom. There was no bedroom on the firts floor prior to 2004. The lot has been fully improved with lanscaping, a new driveway with a new 2 car detatched garage in the rear! A new white vinyl fence surrounding the entire property. The cabinets & tops in the kitchen have been changed to Indian Slate with a back splash and accent slate wall! The master bedroom has an adjacent room which could be a TV, Office or Baby room. It could very well be a 5 bedroom home. You could have a total of 8 vehicles on this property!The front yard has great curb appeal with an arbor ajoining the fence in the front yard! A great home!
Attorney in Chicago involved in representing victims of mortgage fraud.
I am new to this blog, so would appreciate being directed to any other commentary on mortgage fraud and equity stripping in Chicago
why isnt rucker in jail?