Rachel Donegan, 37, and David Lincoln, 37, Baltimore, Maryland, pled guilty to wire fraud arising from a mortgage fraud scheme.
Donegan and Lincoln worked at 1st Metropolitan Mortgage and Guilford Title and Escrow, located in Baltimore, Maryland, preparing mortgage applications and assisting in mortgage closings. According to their plea agreements (Donegan plea, Lincoln plea), from January 2005 to December 2006, Donegan and Lincoln participated with Yolanda Crawley and Shawn Michael Green in a scheme to wire mortgage applications to mortgage companies which contained false representations about Crawley and Green's income and employment. The fraud scheme allowed Crawley to secure loans for the followintg properties: 10740 Versailles Boulevard, Wellington, Florida valued at over $1 million; 477 Pacific Grove Drive, Unit Three, West Palm Beach, Florida valued at $500,000; and 7138 Natures Road, Columbia, Maryland valued at $316,000. The fraud scheme also allowed Green to secure loans for property at 2339 Eutaw Place, Baltimore, Maryland, valued at $300,000.
Donegan and Lincoln face a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine. No sentencing date has been set for the defendants.
In a related indictment, Green, 41, Columbia, Maryland, and Crawley, West Palm Beach, Florida, are charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine from 1998 to 2007 and conspiracy to commit money laundering from 2004 to 2007. The indictment seeks forfeiture of $4 million, which is based on a minimum of 200 kilograms of cocaine at $20,000 per kilogram, and includes the properties in Baltimore and Florida involved in the fraud scheme. An indictment is not a finding of guilt. An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings.
Rachel Dollar, the editor of Mortgage Fraud Blog is an attorney and Certified Mortgage Banker who handles litigation for lending institutions and secondary market investors.