Engelmann in prison

Marc R. Engelmann, a Davenport, Iowa real estate attorney, is now incarcerated. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons website, he is at the Terra Haute FCI, prisoner number 12846-030. His incarceration apparently began yesterday afternoon.

Engelmann has hired a new attorney and appealed his conviction, still claiming that he acted in "good faith" in his role in this mortgage fraud scheme. This, even though the government put up a veritable parade of witnesses testifying that he was fully aware his actions were illegal, and that he made documented efforts to hide the fraud from the lender and closing agent. If nothing else, he was the self-professed real estate law expert of the Quad Cities, so how could he not know these transactions were fraudulent? Either he knew his actions were illegal, or he is far, far from an expert.

There were actually about a dozen attorneys who represented individuals who sold property to Darryl Hanneken and Robert Herdrich. Herdrich and Hanneken, who along with their real estate agent, Mary Pat Harper (aka Mary Pat Lord), were the center of this large fraud scheme, which involved dual contracts and under the table kickbacks from the sellers back to the buyers in the tens of thousands of dollars per transaction. I would imagine there are about a dozen attorneys in the Quad Cities who are breathing sighs of relief as the statutes of limitations expire on these transactions.

Engelmann restitution set

Restitution for Marc Robert Engelmann, a Davenport, Iowa, real estate attorney found guilty of nine counts of bank fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy, was set at $392,937.73. The amount, when paid, will be distributed among three different lenders who suffered losses due to the fraud.

Marc Engelmann sentenced

Marc R. Engelmann, a Davenport, Iowa real estate attorney, was sentenced on 26 January 2012 to three years in federal prison for his part in a mortgage fraud conspiracy. Engelmann represented a seller who sold nine properties to Robert Herdrich and Darryl Hannekin at fraudulently inflated prices, which caused the lender to lend more than the properties were worth. That amounts to four months for each property. The court has not yet determined restitution to the lender, but based on the kickbacks to the buyers and the "usual" post-foreclosure, half-off sale price of real estate, I would guess that to be approaching a half million dollars.

More about the scheme here.

www.thomasmoens.com

Bank of America

Bank of America has agreed to pay $335 million, yes a third of a billion dollars, to settle claims that its Countrywide unit engaged in systematic discrimination. It is alleged that Countrywide steered minority customers to subprime loan products based only on their minority status. This resulted in much higher costs and interest rates than Countrywide's non-minority customers enjoyed. How can something like this even happen in the 21st century?

Engelmann sentencing date set

Sentencing for Marc Engelmann, the Davenport real estate attorney found guilty on nine counts of bank fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy, has been set for January 20, 2012.

Two attorneys sentenced in Mississippi

Charles H. Evans, Jr., of Jackson, Mississippi was sentenced on December 19, 2011 to serve 20 years
in federal prison. Brother and co-conspirator, Jon Christopher Evans, also of Jackson, was
sentenced to 14 years in prison.

The Evans brothers ran what was billed as the largest real estate Ponzi scheme in Mississippi history. They would purchase tracts of vacant land, and then subdivide and resubdivide, obtaining mortgages on real and fictitious pieces of real estate. Charles prepared title opinions and certificates of title on the fictitious land to perpetuate the fraud. They would get new mortgages to service the debt on the old mortgages, as well as put some in their pockets. Their fraud has involved eighty million dollars in loans, fifty lending institutions, and thirty shell corporations they created to hide their activities. All this in only six years.

Charles and Jon will be 77 and 67, respectively, when they reenter society.

Engelmann update II

Marc Engelmann's motion for a new trial, discussed here, was denied. Sentencing is scheduled for January 2012.