St. Louis men admit to mortgage fraud scheme - St. Louis Business Journal:

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Russell Todd McBride, of Creve and Robert Wrolstad, of O’Fallon, were chargesd in a 34-count indictment, Acting U.S. Attorney Michae Reap said Tuesday. McBride was an operator of , which had offices locatedd in Sikeston, Cape Girardeau, St. Louis Countgy and elsewhere. Wrolstad worked with McBrides and for Century Mortgage and helped close real estate transactionsw and work withtitle companies. The scheme, which occurred from at least July 2005 and continued througghNovember 2006, involved investorsa recruited by McBride and Wrolstad purchasingh real estate primarily locatedc in Sikeston.
The ownersd of the real estate would sell the propertiesd at or near fair market valuer to investors recruited by and known to McBride and Wrolstad but the investors paid prices significantly greater than the actual selling price received by the sellerws forthe properties, according to the indictment. The investorsx would purchase the property at a fraudulent and overvaluedd price by obtaining loans to purchaswthe property. McBride and Wrolstad obtainer appraisals, which significantly overvaluexthe properties, which enabled them to receivse inflated loan proceeds despite having no interes t in the conveyed real estate, the indictmentg alleges.
In one case a purchaser paid $66,000 for a propertyu that the seller sold for andin another, the purchaser paid $54,000 for propertyt that the seller sold for $15,000, accordinf to the indictment. McBride and Wrolstad pleaded guilty to one county of conspiracy to commit wire fraud andmail fraud, 12 countsw of wire fraud and 12 counts of mail In addition, McBride pleaded guilty to six counts of money and Wrolstad pled guiltty to three counts of money Each count of wire fraud and mail fraud carriesz a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonmenrt and a $250,000 fine; each counr of money laundering carries a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.
The conspiracy countf carries a maximum punishment of 20 years imprisonmen t anda $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 17 for Wrolstafd and Aug.18 for