United States Attorney David Capp

Northern District of Indiana

M01-204 S. Main Street

South Bend, Indiana 46601

Hammond South Bend Fort Wayne

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Mary L. Hatton

July 16, 2012 PHONE: (219) 937-5500

www.usdoj.gov/usao/inn/ Fax: (219) 852-2770

WEEK IN REVIEW – SOUTH BEND

South Bend, Indiana -- The United States Attorney’s Office announced that:

Ryan C. Webb, 32, and Johnny Stine, 39, both of Fort Wayne, Indiana, pled guilty before Magistrate Judge Christopher Nuechterlein to making false statements in connection with mortgage loans and mortgage insurance.  Magistrate Nuechterlein is recommending that the district court accept the tendered guilty plea. Parties have 10 days in which to object to the magistrate judge’s recommendation.

The charges allege, and the defendants have admitted, that during the period 2008 through 2010 the defendants purchased low-end homes in the Fort Wayne area, often using an entity called Sunset Properties of NI, LLC. Webb and Stine would then flip or sell these low-end homes to buyers, most often for a sales price of two or three times what had been paid for the homes.  As part of a fraud scheme, Webb and Stine with the help of others, provided monies to the home buyers/borrowers to cover loan closing costs.  To hide the fact that all of the monies for closing (that were supposed to come from the buyers/borrowers but in fact came from the seller), Webb and Stine prepared phony “gift letters” documenting falsely that the monies the defendants had provided had come from family or friends of the buyers/borrowers.  These sham gift letters violated applicable HUD/FHA mortgage insurance regulations.  Also as part of the fraud scheme, Webb and Stine used a series of sham transactions, often involving temporary bank deposits, to make it appear that the buyer/borrowers had assets consisting of monies on account at financial institutions when they really did not.  The charges allege, and the defendants have admitted, that these actions resulted in the preparation and submission of mortgage loan applications containing false statements, including specifically with respect to the available assets of the home buyer/mortgage loan applicant.  Because these buyers/borrowers could not on their own qualify for the mortgage loans, they frequently defaulted soon after getting the mortgage loans and the homes went into foreclosure, which caused substantial losses to the mortgage lenders and mortgage insurance providers.

Sentencing has been set for November 1, 2012 before Judge Jon DeGuilio.

These charges were filed as the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Mortgage Fraud Task Force, which is comprised of FBI Agents and officers from the Indiana State Police, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General.. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Donald Schmid.

If convicted in court, any specific sentence to be imposed will be determined by the judge after a consideration of federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.