PRESS RELEASE


6 Charged In ID Theft and Fraud Scam

Kingsville, St. Joseph Area Residents Indicted In $184,000 Fraud

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - (October 4, 2007) – John F. Wood, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that six defendants from Kingsville, Mo., and the St. Joseph, Mo., area, have been indicted by a federal grand jury for using stolen identities in a fraud scheme that involved loans on several residential properties in St. Joseph totaling more than $184,000.

Judith E. Yawakie, 50, of Kingsville, Stephanie E. Davis, 49, Tyrone L. Davis, 40, and Deborah K. Schneider, 48, all of St. Joseph, and Ryan V. Mooney, 35, and Scott E. Schneider, Sr., 51, addresses unknown, were charged in a seven-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Kansas City on Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2007.

Yawakie is the owner and operator of Gateway Mortgage Group, LLC (formerly known as American Home Lending) and JEY Realty/Homes in Kingsville. Stephanie Davis is a loan originator for Gateway Mortgage Group and, along with her husband, Tyrone Davis, co-owner of Davis Custom Homes in St. Joseph.

The federal indictment alleges that, from March 1, 2006, to Nov. 1, 2006, all of the defendants were involved in a conspiracy to defraud banks and mortgage lenders by receiving fraudulent loans. In addition to the conspiracy, the indictment charges each of the defendants with interstate transportation of stolen property, alleging that money obtained by fraud was transferred across state lines.

According to the indictment, the defendants prepared and submitted fraudulent bank loan or mortgage loan applications containing false information and forged signatures in order to receive bank or mortgage loans. In order to carry out this scheme, the indictment alleges, defendants stole the identities of two persons – the grandmother of an unindicted co-conspirator and Mooney’s sister. Defendants used false identities and fraudulent supporting documents to apply for loans to purchase residential properties, the indictment says.

The federal indictment alleges that, in furtherance of the fraud conspiracy:

* Yawakie, Stephanie Davis, Scott Schneider and Deborah Schneider caused $166,000 that had been obtained by fraud to be transferred from a financial institution in Pennsylvania on Aug. 17, 2006.

* Yawakie, Stephanie Davis and Tyrone Davis caused $240,000 that had been obtained by fraud to be transferred from banks in Minnesota and Florida on Aug. 29, 2007.

* Stephanie Davis, Tyrone Davis, Ryan Mooney, Scott Schneider and Deborah Schneider caused $310,000 that had been obtained by fraud to be transferred from a bank in Indiana on Oct. 2, 2006.

Ryan Mooney is also charged with two counts of bank fraud, and Stephanie Davis and Scott Schneider are each charged with one count of bank fraud.

Wood cautioned that the charges contained in the indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney K. Michael Warner. It was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Mo. Department of Health and Senior Services, Special Investigations.





SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY - WESTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI