Rodney Austin, Tega Cay, South Carolina was given a 10-year suspended sentence and placed on two years probation after pleading guilty to obtaining a signature or property with a value of more than $5,000 under false pretenses. Charges against his wife, Deborah Austin, Tega Cay, South Carolina, were dropped. Austin was charged in connection with his role as a broker for the Dorean Group. According to an article in the Fort Mill Times, the Austins allegedly set up trusts linked to Dorean on three different properties in Tega Cay, South Carolina but were only charged in connection with one of the properties. Both defendants also reportedly agreed to testify against Dale Scott Heineman and Kurt Johnson.
http://www.mortgagefraudblog.com/ind...outh_carolina/
Scam artist avoids prison
http://www.fortmilltimes.com/local/s...-5375515c.html
By Jonathan Allen Fort Mill Times
(Published October 4‚ 2006)
It sounded too good to be true; Pay off your mortgage and pocket $60,000 to boot.
Unfortunately, some Tega Cay residents had to find out the hard way that in most cases, what sounds too good to be true usually is. One couple even faced jail time for their in-volvement in the alleged sch-eme. Rodney and Deborah Austin, of 8041 Windjammer Drive, were charged with being involved with a "much larger scheme," according to Assistant Solicitor Kevin Brackett.
After agreeing to testify against the accused ringleaders of a nationwide mortgage debt elimination scheme, the Austins may not see any jail time.
The charge against Deborah Austin, obtaining a signature or property with a value of more than $5,000 under false pretense, was dropped in return for her and her husband's cooperation.
Rodney Austin, who Brackett described as the "brains" of the couple's operation, was given a 10-year suspended sentence and placed on probation for two years after pleading guilty to the same charge his wife faced.
"In the fraud food chain these guys were bottom feeders," Brackett said. "We like to catch the little guys but we want to make sure the big fish get hammered too."
According to Brackett, the Austins were involved with an organization called the Dorean Group based in California. Dorean was run by two men, D. Scott Heineman and Kurt F. Johnson.
According to a federal indictment against Heineman and Johnson, the scam worked like this: an agent for the Dorean Group, like the Austins, lured a potential client with the promise of eliminating his or her mortgage and making $60,000 or more in the process.
The Dorean Group charged a fee that ranged from $1,000 to $3,000 per debt to be eliminated and the clients would promise to give the Dorean Group half of the redeemed mortgage. After the initial fee the Dorean Group and its client would form a trust naming Heineman and Johnson as trustees. The client would then file a quitclaim deed supposedly transferring the client's title interests to the trust.
Next, the Dorean Group mailed a "self-executing presentment packet" to its client's creditor demanding the creditor prove the validity of its loan to the sole satisfaction of the Dorean Group within 10 days. If the creditor didn't answer in time documents in the packet claim that due to the creditor's "tacit assent" and "default" Heineman and/or Johnson, "act as the lender's agent and attorney-in-fact as to the loan and the secured property."
Also, if the creditor chose to prove the validity of its loan but did not meet the Dorean Group's satisfaction, documents in the packet claim the creditor was liable to the Dorean Group for damages 20 times the amount of the loan, according to the indictment.
After the 10-day period elapsed the Dorean Group filed a "Substitution of Trustee," "Specific Power of Attorney" or a "Power of Attorney," depending on the jurisdiction, claiming Heineman and/or Johnson were acting as the agent or attorney-in-fact for the creditor.
Allegedly acting as the creditor's agent, Heineman and/or Johnson would prepare a "Full Reconveyance," a "Discharge of Mortgage" or a "Satisfaction of Mortgage," depending on the jurisdiction. That document would state the mortgage had been paid when in fact it had not, "causing title of the property to falsely appear free and clear of any encumbrances," according to the indictment.
Finally, came the payoff in which the client was directed by the Dorean Group to use the newly cleared title to obtain another home equity loan from another lender. Once the funds are disbursed the Dorean Group got 50 percent of the loan, the Dorean Group agent that brought in the client would get a 10-25 percent cut and the client would keep what was left.
The new loan would then be subject to the same scam and never be repaid.
According to records obtained by the Fort Mill Times, including legal advertisements placed in another local newspaper, the Austins set up trusts linked to Dorean on three different properties in Tega Cay. However, they were only criminally charged in reference to one of the properties, Brackett said. Only one of the victims still lives in South Carolina and pressed charges.
Heineman and Johnson were already in prison awaiting trials when the Austins were arrested last October. Shortly after their arrests federal holds were placed on the Austins. According to Brackett, a U.S. Attorney and an FBI agent talked to the Austins before they agreed to testify against Dorean.
"Their contention was they were suckered by Dorean too," Brackett said.