Five sentenced in mortgage fraud scheme

ROME - Two Gordon County residents were each sentenced to a year in prison and three others to probation Wednesday for taking part in a scheme to defraud lenders by falsifying financial records of home buyers. <br> <br> U.S. District Judge Harold L. Murphy also ordered the five to pay a combined $734,620.02 in restitution to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Countrywide Home Loans and Atlanta Mortgage company. <br> <br> The government said two loan officers with Sun America Mortgage Company, Mary McDonald and Becky Wilburn, overlooked bad credit histories and forged documents on behalf of two real estate agents and a builder to make buyers eligible for government and private home loans. <br> <br> When the buyers eventually defaulted, federal prosecutor Charysse Alexander said the lenders lost money. <br> <br> McDonald and Wilburn pleaded guilty to mortgage fraud and were sentenced to serve one year at the Comprehensive Sanction Center in Atlanta, where they will be allowed to report voluntarily and work during incarceration. <br> <br> Susan Culbert, former owner of ReMax Homes and Land in Calhoun, and Gordon County builder Chris Frix each received five years&#39; probation. Real estate agent Larry Clark was sentenced to three years&#39; probation.

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