Former Las Vegas man pleads guilty to mortgage fraud

By Steve Kanigher

Monday, July 12, 2010 | 5:04 p.m.

A former Las Vegas resident pleaded guilty Friday to conspiracy for his involvement in a Nevada mortgage fraud scheme involving straw buyers and falsified mortgage loan documents, Nevada's U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden said today.

Brian K. Jackson, 38, of Anaheim, Calif., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge James Mahan to conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud and bank fraud, and is scheduled for sentencing on Oct. 8. Jackson, who was indicted by the federal grand jury in Las Vegas last Oct. 21, faces up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine.

From 2002 to May 14, 2008, Jackson, owner of Unlimited Properties, a now-revoked Nevada limited liability corporation, participated in a conspiracy to submit mortgage loan applications to financial institutions to finance straw buyer real estate purchases in Nevada. Jackson recruited and caused to be recruited straw buyers to purchase properties on behalf of the members of the conspiracy. The loans were processed through Sapphire Mortgage, located in Henderson.

Jackson caused false and fraudulent information to be placed in the straw buyers’ mortgage loan applications concerning their employment, income, assets, and intent to occupy property. Jackson caused the same home to be purchased multiple times by different straw buyers at ever increasing prices, and caused the “equity” to be diverted to himself or his company. Jackson also placed renters in the properties and caused the mortgages to default.

The plea agreement states that Jackson caused fraudulent loan applications to be sent to financial institutions to fund mortgage loans for the purchase of a home at 2061 Scenic Sunrise Drive in Las Vegas. Between March 2002 and late 2004, Jackson twice orchestrated the sale of the property using two straw buyers and the placement of false information in their loan applications. In June 2004, Jackson also orchestrated the sale of the Scenic Sunrise property to himself, and falsely stated in his loan application that he intended to reside in the property when he knew he did not.

During this period, Jackson also leased the Scenic Sunrise property to another individual and accepted money from the individual as guarantee that he would purchase it in the future. Jackson did this even though he knew that the property at the time was owned by the first straw buyer and was in the process of being sold to the second straw buyer. As a result of the fraud, the financial institutions lost $111,103.

In May 2008, the owner of Sapphire Mortgage, Cindy Birkland, was arrested and charged in Clark County District Court with mortgage fraud related offenses.

This investigation is being led by IRS Criminal Investigation and the FBI, and other agencies of the Southern Nevada Mortgage Fraud Task Force. Other members include Metro Police, Office of the Inspector General for the Social Security Administration, Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the U.S. Secret Service. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Pugh.