Within the last week the Atlanta-Fulton County District Attorney's office an City of Atlanta Police Department have made three arrests of alleged perpetrators of mortgage fraud at the scenes of two separate real estate closings in Fulton County, Georgia.

First, on March 21, 2006, Damon J. Robinson, 35, was arrested when he arrived at a closing attorney's office in Alpharetta, Georgia to finalize the purchase of a $225,000 house located at 568 Fraser Street in southeast Atlanta, Georgia. Prior to the closing transaction, Robinson had submitted forged Wachovia Bank statements in connection with his loan application to the AmTrust Mortgage Corporation. According to Robinson's falsified bank statements, he had nearly $450,000 in his bank accounts. These bank statements contained numerous inconsistencies, however, that were detected by AmTrust's Quality Control Department, which immediately reported this to the District Attorney's Mortgage Fraud Unit and the Police Department's Major Fraud Division-the day before the scheduled closing. When Robinson arrived, detectives from the Atlanta Police Department were waiting for him, and he was charged with residential mortgage fraud.

Then, on March 25, 2006, Quintin Chandler, 27, and Takeisha Randolph, 26, were arrested when they showed up at a closing attorney's office on Hammond Drive in north Fulton County, Georgia. Randolph was the real estate agent purporting to represent the seller in the fraudulent transaction, and Chandler was the "buyer" of a house located at 716 Windsor Street in southwest Atlanta-in the Georgia zip code with the single highest number of mortgage fraud incidents in the state. The home was allegedly valued at $315,000. Prior to the closing, Chandler reported fictitious financial information in the form of forged W-2 forms and paycheck stubs and provided a false place of employment to SouthStar Funding, the mortgage lender. Chandler claimed that he had been working at a company called Universal Management Unlimited in Lithonia, Georgia but the address he gave for the employer turned out to be a mailbox rented by Randolph.

Chandler, currently on parole for armed robbery, had been in prison for the period of time that he reported the false income and employment records. This was the second property that Randolph and Chandler had purchased using the same false financial information within the last 30 days. Chandler and Randolph were charged with racketeering, residential mortgage fraud, and forgery.

"These arrests clearly send the message we want to convey: Regardless of your role in these fraudulent transactions, you will be held accountable," said Atlanta-Fulton County District Attorney Paul L. Howard, Jr. "Mortgage fraud threatens the financial viability of entire segments of our community, and it is time for those responsible to realize that Fulton County is not the place for them."

"The Atlanta Police Department has worked diligently in arresting and investigating individuals involved in mortgage fraud. We are pleased with the support from District Attorney Howard in his efforts to eradicate the problem," said City of Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington. "I believe that through our partnership with the District Attorney's Office, we are sending a clear message, Fraudsters beware."