Builder pleads guilty to scheme that defrauded mortgage banks

In the following press release from Atlanta, GA United States Attorney David E. Nahmias  announced that Jeffrey Alan Teague, a/k/a Jeffrey Allen Bryant, 49, of Atlanta, Georgia, formerly of Montgomery and Prince Georges County, Maryland, pleaded guilty late yesterday in federal district court to two counts of wire fraud charging a scheme to defraud mortgage lenders by arranging loans for the purchase of incomplete homes in the names of California, New York, and Florida “investors.” TEAGUE provided the lenders with false Certificates of Occupancy, stating the houses securing the loans were “completed to code” and “suitable for occupancy.” TEAGUE was arrested by the FBI on August 3, 2006, in connection with the execution of a series of search warrants on his offices and the incomplete Forsyth County houses.

“This case highlights the problems created by mortgage fraud where the builder is involved in the fraud and out-of-state ‘investors’ sign loans without inspecting the properties,” said United States Attorney David E. Nahmias. “Even the partially built houses in this case may be subject to condemnation as the portions completed were not built to code, thereby leaving mortgage lenders with little security for their loans and ‘investors’ with nothing to resell.”

According to United States Attorney Nahmias and the information presented in court: In 1999 to 2001, TEAGUE, using the name “Jeffrey Allen Bryant” and operating as the builder/seller “Quantum Builders” and “Premium Property Management,” defrauded mortgage lenders by obtaining over $10 million in loans for the purchase of non-existent and incomplete houses in Rockdale County from BRYANT/Quantum Builders. These loans were obtained in the names of unqualified “straw borrowers,” using fraudulent appraisals with photographs of completed houses and false Certificates of Occupancy provided by TEAGUE. Following detection of this scheme, TEAGUE moved to Maryland but returned to Atlanta in 2006, under the name JEFFERY ALAN TEAGUE and “The Pacific Group, Inc., d/b/a Value Homes Ltd.” TEAGUE again began to arrange mortgage loans for the purchase of incomplete houses in Forsyth County from TEAGUE/Value Homes in the names of California, New York and Florida “investors.” In 2006, TEAGUE, a/k/a Bryant, also collected “investor” money for property in subdivisions in Fayette and Fulton Counties which he did not own.

The properties listed in the complaint and criminal information are:
7620 Thrasher Trail, Dawsonville, GA 30534
7540 Thrasher Trail, Dawsonville
7530 Thrasher Trail, Dawsonville
7520 Thrasher Trail, Dawsonville
7510 Thrasher Trail, Dawsonville
7615 Lilac Lane , Dawsonville
7885 Lilac Lane , Dawsonville
7695 Lilac Lane , Dawsonville
7715 Lilac Lane , Dawsonville
7725 Lilac Lane , Dawsonville
7715 Wisteria Way , Dawsonville
7725 Wisteria Way , Dawsonville
7745 Wisteria Way, Dawsonville
7740 Wisteria Way, Dawsonville
7730 Wisteria Way , Dawsonville
7710 Wisteria Way, Dawsonville

Click here to read the information
Click here to read the criminal complaint
Click here to read the full press release

TEAGUE, a/k/a Bryant, was indicted in August 2006 on two counts of wire fraud. He pleaded guilty to both counts of the indictment. He could receive a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison and a fine of up to $500,000. Sentencing is scheduled for February 9, 2007, at 2:00 PM , before United States District Judge Thomas W. Thrash.

This case is being investigated by of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Gale McKenzie is prosecuting the case.