10 sentenced in Oak Tree mortgage fraud

From Staff Reports

Published: October 13, 2007

The remaining people convicted in a mortgage fraud involving homes in Edmond's upscale Oak Tree neighborhood — and prominent Realtor Ann Campbell — were sentenced to prison this week in U.S. District Court in Oklahoma City.

"Scams like these defraud lenders, artificially inflate home values and can leave a local economy reeling because it erodes confidence in the real estate market and lending industry,” U.S. Attorney John C. Richter said. "These sentences should alert real estate insiders and borrowers that if you collude to misrepresent income and values for your own illegal windfall, you will be caught, you will be prosecuted and you will go to prison.”

Campbell, 66, of Edmond, pleaded guilty in December to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and agreed to assist prosecutors. She previously was sentenced to two months in federal prison followed by two years of supervised release for conspiracy to commit wire fraud. She also was ordered to pay a $4,000 fine and $52,490 in restitution.

Prosecutors explained what happened:

Brandon L. Baum, a real estate agent, acted as the buyers' agent in the purchases of houses in Oak Tree. Potential buyers represented by Baum were told they "could receive substantial funds at the time of closing under the guise of ‘repair costs,' which they could use for their personal benefit, if they agreed to purchase the homes at an inflated price,” Richter and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Susan Dickerson Cox and Nick Lillard said Friday in a press release.

"Sellers' agents for certain hard-to-sell properties in Oak Tree negotiated sales with Baum. Brokers at Oklahoma City-based United Lending, including defendant Charles E. Caldwell Jr., facilitated the submission of fraudulent loan applications to lenders for buyers who could not qualify to purchase the homes at the artificially inflated prices. Buyers would provide false information on their loan applications concerning their actual income and assets,” prosecutors said.

In some cases, prosecutors said, buyers were provided loans for down payments "with the understanding they would be reimbursed at closing from the purported remodeling or repair costs, marketing service fees, and other undisclosed disbursements. In those cases, the buyers would not disclose these down payment loans to the lenders, but would instead falsely represent the sources of their down payments.”

Mortgages were approved. Baum presented contracts to sellers' agents in which the buyers agreed to buy homes for well more than their prices as listed on the Multiple Listing Service, prosecutors said.

"Sellers' agents would present the purchase contracts for the inflated prices to their clients and obtain agreements from the sellers to pay for purported remodeling, repair costs, and marketing service fees from the inflated sales proceeds to facilitate the sales of their homes,” prosecutors said. "These agreements were fraudulent because they involved a shell construction company and because it was never intended that the remodeling and repairs be completed.

"Once the terms of a purchase had been approved by both the buyer and seller, in many cases sellers' agents would increase the ... list price for the properties to an amount equal to or above the agreed inflated purchase price to avoid detection by the lenders and others.”

At closing, Baum, Caldwell and others received commissions from the sales, prosecutors said. Campbell was the seller's agent on at least one of nine houses and "received a commission and had the seller pay her money back after closing, which was not disclosed on the (Department of Housing and Urban Development) settlement statement, and ... (passed) the undisclosed funds to Brandon Baum,” prosecutors said.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, the following were sentenced this week after being found guilty after a 12-day jury trial in April:

• Baum, 32, of Joplin, Mo., was convicted of 13 counts involving wire fraud and engaging in a monetary transaction in criminally derived property. He was sentenced to 87 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution of $511,735.23.

• Gayle L. Caldwell, 39, of Edmond was convicted of two counts involving wire fraud and money laundering. She was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison followed by two years of supervised release.

• Charles E. Caldwell Jr., 41, of Edmond was convicted of three counts involving wire fraud. He was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution of $185,740.60.

• Joseph Conrad Therrien, 29, of Oklahoma City was convicted of two counts involving wire fraud and engaging in a monetary transaction in criminally derived property. He was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution of $59,771.48.

• Teresa M. Therrien, 32, of Edmond was convicted of two counts involving wire fraud and engaging in a monetary transaction in criminally derived property. She was sentenced to one month in federal prison, followed by 90 days home detention while serving two years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution of $82,710.58.

• Rusty Real Therrien, 33, of Edmond was convicted of six counts involving wire fraud and engaging in a monetary transaction in criminally derived property. He was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution of $82,710.58.

The following defendants were convicted in separate related cases, and testified in the trial against the above six defendants:

• Timothy J. McDaniel, 45, of Edmond pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and was sentenced to six months in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution of $57,641.34.

• Anthony Jew, 38, of Edmond pleaded guilty to being engaged in a monetary transaction in criminally derived property and was sentenced to serve one year in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, perform 104 hours of community service, and ordered to pay restitution of $13,700.

• Dalton Joe Alford, 35, of Oklahoma City pleaded guilty to being engaged in a monetary transaction in criminally derived property and was sentenced to eight months in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release, perform 104 hours of community service, and ordered to pay restitution of $172,489.24.

• Toney Charles Mykel, 40, of Edmond pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony and was sentenced to six months in federal prison, followed by one year of supervised release, perform 104 hours of community service, and ordered to pay restitution of $263,489.

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