United States Attorney
Northern District of Texas

1100 Commerce St., 3rd Fl.
Dallas, Texas 75242-1699

Telephone (214) 659-8600
Fax (214) 767-0978

Jury Finds Dallas Escrow Officer and Businessman Guilty of
Bank Fraud, Wire Fraud and Mail Fraud

Andrew Siebert and Mark Manners
Guilty of Mortgage Fraud Scheme

United States Attorney Richard B. Roper announced that following a two-week trial before the Honorable Barbara M.G. Lynn, United States District Judge, Dallas businessman Mark Manners, 37, and escrow officer Andrew Norman Siebert, 57, were convicted of conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud and bank fraud charges. The jury deliberated for approximately two hours and found the defendants guilty on all counts of the indictment. Judge Lynn will sentence both defendants on March 14, 2007. Siebert faces a maximum statutory sentence of 160 years imprisonment and a $3.25 million fine and Manners faces a maximum statutory sentence of 120 years imprisonment and a $2.75 million fine.

In September 2005, a federal grand jury in Dallas returned an indictment against Charles Cooper Burgess, Mark Manners, Robert L. Loeb, and Andrew Siebert charging conspiracy to commit bank fraud, mail fraud and wire fraud. A superseding indictment was returned in October 2006. The conspiracy related to a mortgage fraud scheme conducted by the four men under the names Better Homes of Dallas, BKR Realty, and Custom Select Homes. Burgess pled guilty in January 2006 and Loeb pled guilty last month. Both Burgess and Loeb testified against Siebert and Manners at trial.

The conspiracy alleged that Burgess recruited straw buyers with good credit but limited funds to sign loan and closing documents for the purchase of homes. As part of a signed “Investor Management Agreement,” Burgess promised to provide the down payment at closing as well as make all mortgage payments. Burgess, Manners and Loeb paid each straw buyer between five and ten thousand dollars after the closing “for the use of their credit.” In 2002, when Burgess’s company ran out of funds for the needed down payments, defendant Andrew Siebert agreed to release escrow funds to Burgess for the borrower’s down payment. Burgess testified that Siebert would only agree to fraudulently release these escrow funds if Burgess agreed to pay Siebert $5,000 from each closing as a “kickback payment.” Evidence at trial revealed that defendant Siebert fraudulently released lender funds from the title company escrow account on 20 different loans.

On the day of the closings, Siebert fraudulently released the funds so that Manners could purchase a cashier’s check in the name of the straw buyer. When Siebert received the cashier’s check back from Manners, Siebert would complete the transaction, falsely certifying to the lender on the settlement statement that the down payment came from the straw buyer. On the settlement statement, Siebert also fraudulently accounted for disbursements to Burgess’s company by falsely listing the expense as a phony lien payoff, or as a “marketing and relocation fee” due to Burgess’s company. Eleven different lenders testified at trial that they would not have funded these loans had they known about the fraudulent use of their funds.

The trial also included testimony that Manners used computer software, such as CorelDRAW, to create fraudulently inflated bank statements and counterfeit cashier’s checks to fraudulently induce lenders to approve loans and authorize funding. One of the straw buyers testified that when he told Burgess and Manners that his bank statements would not be able to show enough money in his account, Manners replied, “You’d be surprised what Corel can do!” The lenders also testified about the false statements on the documents from Siebert, and to the losses incurred when the properties foreclosed.

From December of 2002 through March of 2004, Siebert fraudulently released a total of $1.7 million in lender escrow funds as part of the fraudulent scheme. As a result of Siebert submitting false certifications on settlement statements for each of these twenty loans, Siebert and Manners fraudulently induced the disbursement of loans totaling more than $7 million. Losses to lenders from foreclosures on the properties exceed $1 million.

U.S. Attorney Roper praised the investigative efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Office of Inspector General. The case was prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney William M. Martin and Assistant United States Attorney David Jarvis.

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