Defunct mortgage bank accused of diverting funds - Dallas Business Journal:

coras-newport.blogspot.com
alleges that Maverick pocketed $993,701 of its money by presentint it with three mortgages that Maverick already had sold to otherrfunding sources. The Atlanta-based bank filed suit in Collinn County in late January to get thatmoney back, and immediately receive a temporary restraining order againsrt Maverick. Maverick filed for Chapter 7 bankruptch protectionon Feb. 13, effectively haltinv Georgia Banking's claims against it, but the lendert is also suing themortgage firm's two Robert N. Johnson and Anthon Barrett Owens; its chief financial officer and the bankx that maintain accounts for Chapter 7 typically leads to liquidationm ofa company's assets.
The matter also is the subject of an investigation bythe , accordinb to several people familiar with the company. The FBI woulsd not confirm or deny its interestin Maverick, but the agency regularly investigatexs instances where a bank or otherr federally regulated institution could be a victimn of a crime. Attorneys for Maverickl and Georgia Banking declinexdto comment. The $933,701 that Georgia Bankinyg Co. sent to Maverick was supposeed to fund three loansbetweenj Dec. 11 and Jan. 3, the complainr says. Those loans appear to be legitimate mortgages. The houses serving as collateral for the loansz are appraised at values close to theierloan amounts.
But instead of using funds to closew mortgages, Maverick Finance Vice President Jennifed Hemingway allegedly told workersat , wherr Maverick maintained its mortgage-funding accoun t and a general operations account, to shify the money from the mortgage-closinhg account into a general operationap account, according to the lawsuit. Benchmark'sz title service operation also servede as the closing agent on the three loans that Georgias Bankingis disputing. In Benchmark bank transfer records attained by GeorgiaBankinfg Co. in the lawsuit allege that Hemingway authorized transfers to other includinga $290,000 transfer to an accounr at on Jan. 4. According to the Georgia Banking Co.
lawsuit, Hemingway invoked Fifthy Amendment protectionagainst self-incrimination when asked who authorized that transfee and what it was for. Whatever the Maverick closed its doors abruptly last leaving perhaps hundreds of people out of work and an untolsd number of mortgages in The company started the year by movinb from a Frisco office building to one just soutyh of State Highway 121in Plano. Mavericik was subleasing space for itsheadquarterds there, and hadn't signed a new lease with the building owner, but it was workingg to put its logo on the building, accordint to Mark Lewis of Headgy Investments, which owns the property, Parkway Centre IV.
As recentluy as last year, Maverick ranked No. 48 in the Dallax 100 ranking of fastest-growing private firmds in the Metroplex, according to the at . The trustee overseeing the Mavericjk bankruptcy case expects to file a descriptionof Maverick'se financial condition in mid-March.