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Louisville, KY --(October 15, 2007)-- A federal jury in U.S. District Court, Louisville Division, convicted James Chadwick Hardison, age 41, of Louisville, for aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud; all in connection with the fraudulent obtaining of mortgage loans on an Indian Hills Residence and a Cherokee Triangle residence, David L. Huber, United States Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky, announced today. Three other defendants, Freddie Johnson, Willie Collins, and Marilyn Rainey, all from Chicago, previously pleaded guilty to similar charges.
U.S. Attorney Huber praised the cooperative efforts of BB&T Bank and LMPD in working with the Secret Service in breaking
this case.
The scheme for which Hardison was convicted related to his involvement in the stealing of the identity of the owners of
homes in Indian Hills and the Cherokee Triangle to facilitate three fraudulent loan closings on the properties. Hardison
and his co-conspirators from Chicago were able to effectuate their scheme by also stealing the identity of a Southern
Indiana man so that Hardison could pose as a buyer at the closing, while Rainey posed as the actual owner of the property.
Using these stolen identities, Hardison, Rainey, and Collins participated in multiple closings on these property. At the
closing on the Indian Hills home, they attempted to obtain a loan in the amount of approximately $403,000. At the first
closing on a home in the Cherokee Triangle, they were able to obtain approximately $290,000 in loan proceeds. They obtained
a second loan from a different lender on the same Highlands home, but were arrested by the Louisville Metropolitan Police
Department (LMPD) before they could withdraw these funds. Hardison’s role in the scheme was to arrange the loans and pose
as the buyer of the property. Johnson’s role in the scheme was to recruit Rainey to pose as the buyer of the property and
to recruit Collins to open a bank account in Louisville so that they could cash the check that they obtained from the
closing.
The defendants were able to obtain $303,704.57 from the first closing for the Indian Hills property on November 21, 2006,
and $294,567.22 from the second closing on the Cherokee Triangle property on November 27, 2006. The $303,704.57 was wired
to a LaSalle Bank account in Chicago that was opened under a fake name. The monies have not been recovered. The bank,
however, put a hold on the check from the second closing. When the defendants attempted to withdraw the proceeds from
this second check, the Louisville Metropolitan Police Department was able to arrest Johnson and Collins. Shortly after
their arrest, the LMPD and the United States Secret Service were able to identify and then arrest Johnson and Hardison.
Each of Hardison, Johnson, Collins, and Rainey face up to 30 years in prison plus an additional two years for each count
of aggravated identity theft to which they pleaded guilty. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys
Bryan Calhoun and Mac Shannon, and it was investigated by the United States Secret Service and the Louisville Metropolitan
Police Department.
Johnson, Collins, and Rainey are scheduled to be sentenced before Judge Thomas B. Russell on November 2, 2007, at 9:00 a.m.
Hardison is scheduled to be sentenced before Judge Russell on January 15, 2007, at 12:00 p.m., in Louisville, Kentucky.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Justice
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