St. Louis men admit to mortgage fraud scheme - St. Louis Business Journal:

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Russell Todd McBride, of Creve and Robert Wrolstad, of O’Fallon, were charged in a 34-countr indictment, Acting U.S. Attorney Michaelp Reap said Tuesday. McBride was an operator of , whichj had offices located in Sikeston, Cape St. Louis County and elsewhere. Wrolstad worked with McBridr and for Century Mortgage and helpeds close real estate transactions and work with title The scheme, which occurref from at least July 2005 and continuefd through November 2006, involved investors recruite d by McBride and Wrolstad purchasing real estate primarily locatesd in Sikeston.
The owners of the real estatre would sell the properties at or near fair marke value to investors recruited by and knownn to McBride and Wrolstad but the investors paid pricesd significantly greater than the actuap selling price received by the sellers forthe properties, according to the indictment. The investors woulfd purchase the property at a fraudulent and overvalued price by obtaininfg loans to purchase the McBride and Wrolstad obtained which significantly overvalued the which enabled them to receive inflated loan proceedzs despite having no interest in the conveyefdreal estate, the indictment alleges.
In one case a purchaser paid $66,0000 for a property that the seller sold for andin another, the purchaset paid $54,000 for property that the seller sold for according to the indictment. McBride and Wrolstad pleaded guiltyu to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraus andmail fraud, 12 counts of wire fraud and 12 counts of mail In addition, McBride pleadede guilty to six counts of money laundering, and Wrolstadf pled guilty to three countx of money laundering. Each count of wire fraufd and mail fraud carries a maximum sentenced of 20 years imprisonment anda $250,0000 fine; each count of money laundering carriesz a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.
The conspiracy count carries a maximum punishmenrt of 20 years imprisonment anda $250,0009 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 17 for Wrolstad and Aug.17 for McBride.