Lake Jackson Area Attorney Sentenced in Scheme to Commit Bank Fraud
HOUSTON ‐A 65-year-old resident of Lake Jackson has been ordered to federal prison for his role in a mortgage fraud scheme, announced U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick. Kirk Lawrence Brannan pleaded guilty to bank fraud April 30, 2018, admitting he conspired with others from 2005 to 2009 to execute a scheme to defraud Wells Fargo Bank and other lenders.
Today, Chief U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal handed him a 36-month sentence to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release. At the hearing, the court held that, in committing the crime, Brannan had used sophisticated means and had employed his special skills as an attorney and real estate agent. Judge Rosenthal noted that Brannan had created false HUD-1 settlement forms and title documents that purported to show the sale of three of his properties to his children at grossly inflated prices. These HUD-1 forms then became the three comparable sales that appraisers relied upon in over-valuing the rest of Brannan’s beach home properties which Brannan then sold through the fraud scheme at inflated prices.
In imposing the sentence, Judge Rosenthal balanced Brannan’s honorable military service and other aspects of what, up to the time of the fraud, had been an exemplary life, with the tremendous damage mortgage fraud had done to the U.S. financial system and economy and the fact that Brannan had been a knowing and willing participant in such a scheme. She also pointed out that some individuals much less sophisticated than Brannan had suffered severe economic harm as a result of Brannan’s scheme.
He was further ordered to pay $5,317,350 in restitution. A money judgement was previously entered in the amount of $2,401,368.
Read more: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdtx/pr/lake-jackson-area-attorney-sentenced-scheme-commit-bank-fraud
