BIRMINGHAM—Federal prosecutors on Friday
charged an Atlanta woman with mortgage fraud for providing false financial
information for several home buyers that resulted in fraudulently obtained
mortgages totaling more than $623,000, U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance; FBI
Acting Special Agent in Charge Robert E. Haley, III; and Housing and Urban
Development Inspector General David Montoya announced.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office filed an
information in U.S. District Court charging Melneka Parker, 27, with three
counts of aiding and abetting others in the making of false statements on
mortgage loan applications.
Parker assisted in the commission of a
larger mortgage fraud ring among several buyers, including Gloria Allen and
Crystal Douglas, both of Huntsville, who were charged by information in July.
Beginning in 2008, Parker owned and operated Elite Business Services in
Huntsville, with the stated purpose of helping its clients improve their credit
scores, according to the information.
The charges filed against Parker outline
the fraud as follows:
After forming Elite Business Services,
Parker began assisting her clients in obtaining mortgages to buy real estate in
the Huntsville area. Because many of her clients were not financially eligible
to obtain loans, Parker would submit false payroll and income information to
the financial institution. The false payroll information inflated the monthly
income that each borrower claimed to earn, making them eligible for a mortgage
that they would otherwise have been unable to obtain. Parker also sent the
false income information to another tax preparation business, which resulted in
the creation of false tax documents. All of those documents were submitted to
support the false income claims made by the borrower and Parker. As a result of
her fraudulent activities, financial institutions approved $623,357 in
mortgages that they would not otherwise have approved.
If convicted, Parker could face a
maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine for each count.
The FBI and HUD-Office of the Inspector
General investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Carney is
prosecuting the case.
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