DECATUR, Ill. – A senior loan officer at Staley CU was charged in a federal grand jury indictment handed up yesterday in an alleged $5 million real estate loan flipping scheme that netted her and two alleged accomplices almost $2 million.
The indictments charge that the two made false representations, including phony appraisals, to cause buyers to purchase, and the $100 million credit union to finance as many as 40 homes.
Charged in the scheme are: Diane Shelton, 60, former senior loan officer at Staley CU; Terry Hart, 56, a local realtor; and Mark Brown, 43, a real estate appraiser. Shelton and Hart allegedly received payment of loan proceeds and paid appraisal fees and kickbacks to Brown.
Hart allegedly recruited buyers to purchase homes in the Decatur area which would be financed through the credit union. The buyers were told the credit union would not only finance the home purchase, but also refinance their existing personal debt.
Shelton allegedly told her bosses at the credit union that the financing was for home equity loans on existing ownership, when she knew it was being provided for home purchases and to refinance pre-existing personal debt.
To cover the scheme, Shelton and Hart allegedly prepared quitclaim deeds to buyers, which purported to show that the new buyers were already owners of the property when the credit union approved the financing.
