An Atlanta man pleaded guilty Tuesday to bilking the FDIC of $2.2 million in a bogus real estate short-sale scheme.
Brent Merriell, 37, admitted in federal court to lying to the FDIC and selling 14 homes he owned facing foreclosure to identities he’d stolen, court authorities said.
“This case demonstrates our resolve to prosecute those who attempt to cheat the FDIC as that agency works to secure the assets of hard-working Americans deposited in this country’s banks,” U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said.
Merriell bought the homes using loans from Omni National Bank, before the bank failed last March and was taken over by the FDIC, authorities said.
When he defaulted on all 14 home loans in October 2009, Merriell put the homes on the market as a short sale, asking the FDIC to forgive $2.2 million in loan payoffs so his “buyers” could purchase them at a greatly reduced price.
A short sale is an agreement between the defaulted home owner – in this case Merriell – and the loan holder to sell the home for less than the value of the loan, to prevent the bank from incurring substantial loss, and to free the owner from having to repay the full loan.
But Merriell tried to give forged and counterfeited sales contracts and loan commitment letters – generated from seven stolen identities – to the FDIC to complete the sales.
He was arrested before the sales went through and before his actions could affect the credit of his seven victims, authorities said.
Merriell was indicted in December and could receive up to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $1 million, in addition to a consecutive two years prison time and a $250,000 fine for the aggravated identity theft, court officials said.
Sentencing is scheduled for May 25.
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