Mortgage Scammer Jailed

Predatory lending practices have risen in the past five years by more than 125%. Legislation and law makers are now trying to target this new breed of scammers by inflicting harsher punishments, like jail time.

Predatory lending practices, illegal ways of lending money in the form of mortgages, have been on the rise in recent years. Law makers are trying to crack down on those practicing this sort of fraud. In Forrest County, one man was on the wrong end of the new penalties; being the alleged ring leader in a mortgage fraud case, he was jailed on Friday on a federal court order. He was booked on Friday just after lunch in the Forrest County Jail, and remained there over the weekend.

He is among ten people who have been charged with bank fraud, brought about by a federal court. The charges also included wire fraud and conspiracy to commit bank fraud with a mortgage flipping scheme, one of the most common types of predatory lending. The accused was ordered into rehab at Clearview Recovery as soon as a bed was available and was supposed to keep in contact with probation officers. The drug assessment was part of a pre-trial release agreement, and may or may not have been the reason behind the jailing.