Where is Dan Stockman?

I've not been reading the newspaper later, but every now and then I want to read something from Dan Stockman. Today, is the day. Stockman reports on a candidate for federal wire fraud leadering to foreclosure of at least 150 homes.

A Fort Wayne mortgage broker has been indicted on federal wire fraud charges as part of $5.5 million in mortgages that resulted in nearly 150 home foreclosures.

Justin L. Stuckey, 34, faces up to 100 years in prison and $1.25 million in fines if convicted on all counts.

The indictment, handed up by a federal grand jury Thursday, follows a civil lawsuit filed in federal court against Stuckey and several others involved in the deals. Both cases allege Stuckey, as owner and operator of Maximum Mortgage in Fort Wayne, obtained fraudulent loans in 2002 through ABN Amro bank for investors buying rental properties from landlord Rex Wells and Wells’ company, Alliance Property Management.

Both complaints allege the loans were for the investors to buy the properties from Wells but were applied for as refinancing. The civil lawsuit alleges the deals also used inflated appraisals to get loans for $2.6 million more than the houses were worth. Experts say refinancing loans get less scrutiny than purchase loans.