FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
AUSA VICKIE E. LEDUC or
MARCIA MURPHY at 410-209-4885
AUGUST 24, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BALTIMORE ATTORNEY AND MORTGAGE BROKER PLEAD GUILTY IN MORTGAGE FRAUD SCHEME
Related Indictment Charges Two in $4 Million Cocaine and Money Laundering Conspiracy
Baltimore, Maryland - Attorney Rachel Donegan and David Lincoln, both age 37, of Baltimore, pleaded guilty to wire fraud arising from a mortgage fraud scheme, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein. Donegan pleaded guilty today and Lincoln on August 10, 2007.
Donegan and Lincoln worked at 1st Metropolitan Mortgage and Guilford Title and Escrow, located in Baltimore, preparing mortgage applications and assisting in mortgage closings. According to their plea agreements, from January 2005 to December 2006, Donegan and Lincoln participated with Yolanda Crawley and Shawn Michael Green in a scheme to wire mortgage applications to mortgage companies which contained false representations about Crawley and Green’s income and employment. The fraud scheme allowed Crawley to secure loans for properties in: Wellington, Florida valued at over $1 million; West Palm Beach, Florida valued at $500,000; and Columbia, Maryland valued at $316,000. The fraud scheme also allowed Green to secure loans for property at 2339 Eutaw Place in Baltimore valued at $300,000.
Donegan and Lincoln face a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine. No sentencing date has been set for the defendants.
In a related indictment, Green, age 41, of Columbia, Maryland, and Crawley, of West Palm Beach Florida, are charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine from 1998 to 2007 and conspiracy to commit money laundering from 2004 to 2007. The indictment seeks forfeiture of $4 million, which is based on a minimum of 200 kilograms of cocaine at $20,000 per kilogram, and includes the properties in Baltimore and Florida involved in the fraud scheme. An indictment is not a finding of guilt. An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the Immigration and Customs Enforcement - Drug Money Laundering Initiative and the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation for their investigative work. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Kwame J. Manley, who is prosecuting the case.