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Press Release

Defendant In $15 Million Mortgage Fraud Conspiracy Convicted By Federal Jury

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Nevada

       LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Following a two-week jury trial, the 10th person charged in a Las Vegas mortgage fraud scheme that caused approximately $15 million in losses to the lenders and financial institutions, was convicted today of conspiracy and fraud charges, announced Daniel G. Bogden, United States Attorney for the District of Nevada.

            Jabari L. Marshall, 36, of Las Vegas, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, and is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 9, 2014.  He faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.  Nine co-defendants pleaded guilty before trial.  Eight of those are awaiting sentencing and one has been sentenced.

“The number of homes and dollar amount of the loans involved in this crime is staggering,” said U.S. Attorney Bogden.  “All of the persons charged in this conspiracy have now been convicted and are facing significant prison sentences.  As each of those convicted fraudsters can now attest, mortgage fraud is a very serious offense that will send you to prison.” 

            According to the indictment and evidence presented to the jury during the trial, from about 2005 to 2007, the defendants were involved in a mortgage fraud scheme which involved the use of straw buyers and the submission of false information to financial institutions in order to obtain mortgage loans. Once the mortgage loans were approved, the defendants caused money from the loan transactions to be disbursed to their own use and benefit.  The defendants typically rented the homes and re-sold them for a profit, using the same scheme.  They then defaulted on the loans, causing approximately $15 million in losses to the lenders.  Defendant Lloyd Gardley was considered to be the leader of the conspiracy.  Lloyd Gardley, Candis Gardley, and Marshall recruited straw buyers, loan officers and others into the scheme.  Marshall also provided false Social Security numbers and false documents for some of the loans. The other defendants included two loan officers, two real estate agents, an escrow assistant, an accountant, and an individual who provided false verifications of rent. 

            The evidence showed that the defendants used this fraudulent scheme to purchase 30 homes in Las Vegas between 2005 and 2007. The total value of the mortgages was approximately $35 million.   Some of the homes were “flipped” or sold twice within short periods of time. 

The case was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brian Pugh and Sarah E. Griswold.

This case was handled in connection with the President's Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. The task force was established to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. With more than 20 federal agencies, 94 U.S. attorneys' offices and state and local partners, it's the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud. Since its formation, the task force has made great strides in facilitating increased investigation and prosecution of financial crimes; enhancing coordination and cooperation among federal, state and local authorities; addressing discrimination in the lending and financial markets and conducting outreach to the public, victims, financial institutions and other organizations. Over the past three fiscal years, the Justice Department has filed nearly 10,000 financial fraud cases against nearly 15,000 defendants including more than 2,900 mortgage fraud defendants. For more information on the task force, please visit www.StopFraud.gov.
Updated January 29, 2015

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