Woman in Alabama pleads guilty to Mortgage fraud

United State Attorney Joyce W. Vance and Special Agent in Charge Patrick Maley announced on March 1st  that Roxanne Saunders Gilliland has pleaded guilty to mortgage fraud and embezzlement.

Roxanne Saunders, from Rainbow City, Alabama pleaded guilty before United States District Judge C. Lynwood Smith Jr. Ms. Gilliland pleaded to one count of making fraudulent statements on a mortgage loan application and three counts of bank fraud. Ms. Gilliland also agreed to forfeit over five hundred fifty seven thousand dollars to the federal government which represent the proceeds from her crimes.

The plea agreement states that Mr. Gilliland worked for Dawson Construction Company based in Gadsden, Alabama and that during the period of March 2005 and October of 2008, she conducted her scheme. Ms. Gilliland withdrew five hundred seventy seven thousand seven hundred and ninety six dollars from Dawson Construction Company’s business and personal accounts. The plea agreement also states that she submitted a mortgage loan application in April of 2007 in which she used a business account as an assets on her personal mortgage application. The business account was her employers and had she not used the assets shown on the business account the lending institution would not have approved the mortgage loan.

The maximum sentence Ms. Gilliland could receive is thirty years in prison with a one million dollar fine.

The prosecutor in the case will be Assistant United States Attorney Patrick Carney. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.