Ex-broker pleads guilty in mortgage case

Associated Press

A former real estate broker has pleaded guilty to charges that he committed mortgage fraud, operated a real estate investment scam and was involved in a check-kiting scheme and bankruptcy fraud.

Edward William Farley of Hoschton entered the plea in federal court on Thursday.

Acting U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said the 47-year-old Farley defrauded Atlanta-area mortgage lenders through same-day "flips" of properties.

Prosecutors say Farley paid an appraiser to fraudulently inflate the value of each property by $50,000 to $100,000, and recruited often unqualified investor-borrowers to buy them from one of his companies.

Authorities say Farley would buy the properties for substantially less than the amount of the loans after he obtained the loan proceeds.