Doris J. Taylor, 59, real estate broker, Kansas City, Missouri, pleaded guilty to transferring money obtained illegally through fraud across state lines. Taylor was indicted on April 5, 2006.

“Mortgage fraud is a serious offense that will be vigorously prosecuted,” Missouri United States Attorney Bradley J. Schlozman said, “not only because of the direct economic harm suffered by its victims, but also the potential indirect damage such fraud can wreak upon neighborhoods and upon the real estate market. This mother-and-son crime team used false income, inflated appraisals and other deceptions to enrich themselves at others’ expense.”

By pleading guilty, Taylor admitted that she caused a mortgage company to transfer $331,859 to an Independence, Missouri, bank account as a result of a fraudulent loan application. Taylor was in business as a real estate broker under the name Doris J. Taylor Realty; she also invested in residential properties in Kansas City and Lee’s Summit, Missouri.

Taylor’s son and co-defendant, Eric Kendall Taylor, 36, Lee’s Summit, Missouri, was also in the business of investing in residential properties in Kansas City and Lee’s Summit, Missouri. He used the business name C and K Co. to create false second mortgages on properties and to obtain loan proceeds. He also used the fictitious business names Pinetree Consulting, T & M Management, T & M Enterprise, and W & W Enterprise, to create false employment and income information, documentation, and verification.

On September 19, 2001, Eric Taylor deeded the residential property at 2903 S.W. 13th Terr., Lee’s Summit, Missouri, to Doris Taylor. He had purchased the property previously and obtained a loan by fraud in connection with that purchase.

Between September 28 and December 5, 2001, Doris Taylor applied for, and Eric Taylor caused to be applied for, a mortgage loan from National City Mortgage, also doing business as Commonwealth United Mortgage Co., for approximately $332,350 in connection with her purchase of the Lee’s Summit, Missouri property. In the loan application and supporting documentation, Doris Taylor provided false information, including false income information, false asset information, false tax returns, the misrepresentation that she had owned the property since October 2000, and an inflated appraisal.

National City Mortgage approved the loan in reliance on the misrepresentations contained in the loan application. On or about December 17, 2001, National City Mortgage sent a $331,859.19 check, drawn on the firm’s account Citibank in Buffalo, New York, to Realty Title Co. in Independence, Missouri. The check was deposited in the account of Realty Title Co. at Hillcrest Bank in Independence, Missouri.

On August 25, 2006, Eric Taylor pleaded guilty to conspiracy and to money laundering.

Eric Taylor admitted that he participated in a conspiracy to defraud mortgage lenders of more than $5 million and to transfer money taken by fraud across state lines. Eric Taylor acquired residential properties after foreclosure and at reduced prices, then recruited straw buyers to purchase that real estate and obtain mortgage loans for the properties, or purchased properties in his own name. He prepared false and fraudulent loan applications and supporting documentation for submission to mortgage lenders in the names of the straw borrowers, caused inflated appraisals to be prepared in relation to the properties, and submitted false and fraudulent loan applications, appraisals, documentation and other representations to mortgage lenders.

In order to further the conspiracy, Eric Taylor purchased a false Social Security number and false payroll stubs during the summer of 1999 to submit to mortgage lenders to document the false information he planned to submit on loan applications. In July 2000, he allegedly created false payroll stubs and false W-2 forms, falsely showing he was employed by a fictitious company at a fictitious salary. In 2001, Eric Taylor allegedly arranged for and set up a business telephone line at the home of a relative to list on loan application as the telephone number of his employer. When a mortgage lender called the business telephone number, the relative confirmed the information or took a message and notified Eric Taylor.

As a result of this false information used in applications for mortgage loans, between the summer of 1999 and September 23, 2005, mortgage lenders approved 23 fraudulent loans totaling $5,158,368.

Eric Taylor also wrote checks on bank accounts that contained funds obtained by fraud. Under federal law, Schlozman explained, it is illegal to engage in monetary transactions, affecting interstate commerce, in criminally derived property of a value greater than $10,000. Eric Taylor deposited $187,323 obtained by fraud in the course of the mortgage fraud conspiracy into a bank account under his control but in the name of C and K Co. He then wrote an $87,000 check drawn on that account, payable to himself, on May 8, 2002.

Under federal statutes, Doris Taylor could be subject to a sentence of up to 10 years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $250,000 and an order of restitution. Eric Taylor could be subject to a sentence of up to 15 years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $500,000 and an order of restitution.