Dale Scott Heineman and Kurt F. Johnson, principals with the Dorean Group, were found guilty by a federal jury of all remaining counts in the indictment. Sentencing for the two defendants is set for March 18, 2008.
As previously reported by Mortgage Fraud Blog, Heineman, 49, and Johnson, 42, as well as four Dorean Group "brokers" were indicted by a California grand jury in a 68-count superseding indictment charging mail fraud, bank fraud, conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud and bank fraud, and contempt of court. The superseding indictment added charges of mail fraud, bank fraud, and conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud and bank fraud against the following four Dorean Group brokers:
William Julian, 42, Cayce, South Carolina,
Farrel J. LeCompte, Jr., 35, Kingwood, Texas,
Sara J. Magoon, 29, Hamilton, Montana, and
Charles Dewey Tobias, 58, of Longwood, Florida.
These charges are the result of an investigation by the FBI.
The principals of the Dorean Group are Dale Scott Heineman, Union City, California, and Kurt F. Johnson, Sunnyvale, California. They, along with the Dorean Group and four of its brokers, are charged with operating a debt elimination scheme whereby fraudulent documents are recorded as part of their clients' titles to allegedly transfer lenders' secured interests in the properties when the corresponding mortgage and home equity loans had not been paid. With this fraudulently-generated free and clear title, some clients, at the direction of the Dorean Group, obtained hundreds of thousands of dollars in home equity loans from independent lenders.
Heineman and Johnson also face contempt of court charges for violating a restraining order and preliminary injunction which prohibited the Dorean Group from engaging in any activities related to its mortgage elimination scheme.
The charges in the superseding indictment relate to 24 properties in California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and Washington with a value of over $6 million. The FBI continues to investigate more than 550 properties throughout 35 states with a potential value of greater than $88 million in loans that may have been affected by this alleged scheme. The FBI is also investigating properties in 19 California counties affected by this alleged scheme.
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.