Guilty Plea In Mortgage Fraud Case

United States Attorney Kenyen R. Brown announced today that Lance A. Collins, of Atlanta, Georgia entered a guilty plea to conspiracy to commit bank fraud, wire fraud and mail fraud. Collins faces a maximum possible sentence of twenty years and a fine of $250,000.00. Restitution is mandatory.

The case arose from an investigation conducted by the FBI and was prosecuted by United States Attorney Deborah Griffin.

Collins admitted participating in a scheme to defraud mortgage lenders by submitting false loan applications to obtain mortgage loans for the purchase of condominiums in the Southern District of Alabama. To carry out the scheme, commonly known as a “silent second” or “equity skimming” scheme, documents required for closing the loans were sent by a commercial interstate carrier or faxed from the Southern District of Alabama to mortgage lenders in Birmingham, Alabama and out-of-state. Collins and other members of the conspiracy would provide the funds for the down payments of the properties purchased. The buyers would receive a check at closing, in approximately twice the amount of the down payment, which they then gave to Collins or the co-conspirator who had provided the down payment. Members of the conspiracy acting as buyers were not paying anything down on the purchase of the properties and had no equity in the property from the date of closing.