Realtor/lender investigated by the FBI
Robert Sasser, of West Columbia, South Carolina today pled guilty in federal court to Wire Fraud, and a 90 day sentence was imposed after the judge accepted Sasser’s plea. During today’s change of plea hearing, evidence was presented that Sasser is a mortgage broker and Realtor, involved in eight transactions financed for roughly $2.5 million by Wachovia Bank which became a division of Wells Fargo in December 2008.
These eight transactions were collateralized by homes that were “significantly overvalued” according to the FBI investigation and the loan documents contained misrepresentations including “grossly overstated or fabricated income and asset information, forged signatures, down payments paid by Sasser rather than by the purchaser, and loan payments paid on behalf of, instead of by, the actual purchasers.”
Collateralizing these homes cause the loans to be approved in the names of people who could not afford the loans which the FBI says caused them all to go into foreclosure.
The lender claims losses of nearly $1.7 million on these transactions for which the maximum penalty is a $250,000 fine and/or 20 years imprisonment.
