Clerk Indicted for Accepting Bribe to Record Back-Dated Deed
Clerk Indicted for Accepting Bribe to Record Back-Dated Deed
September 21, 2015 — Leave a comment
Rachel Dollar, the editor of Mortgage Fraud Blog is a California attorney and Certified Mortgage Banker who handles litigation for mortgage lenders, servicers and financial institutions
Regina Taylor, 59, Chicago, Illinois, a former clerk for the Cook County, Illinois, Recorder of Deeds, accepted a $200 cash bribe in exchange for preparing and agreeing to record a back-dated deed on an Oak Park, Illinois, home, according to a federal indictment. Taylor accepted the bribe from an individual who purportedly wanted to add a relative’s name to the deed. Unbeknownst to Taylor, the individual was actually an undercover law enforcement agent, the indictment states.
Taylor was charged with one count of mail fraud and two counts of wire fraud and will be arraigned before U.S. District Judge Sara L. Ellis on September. 24, 2015, at 10:00 a.m.
According to the indictment, Taylor offered and agreed to prepare a false quit claim deed that added the purported relative to the deed of the Oak Park property, which was allegedly owned by three deceased individuals. Taylor told the undercover agent that she usually charges $500 to prepare and record the fraudulent documents, but that in this instance she was willing to charge only $200, the indictment states.
Taylor directed the undercover agent not to tell anyone that the other individuals on the deed were deceased, according to the indictment. She then prepared a fraudulent quit claim deed and back-dated it by 18 months, confirming the purported relative as a grantee. After giving the fraudulent quit claim deed to the undercover agent to get stamped at the Village of Oak Park, the undercover agent gave Taylor $200 in cash, according to the indictment. Taylor further directed the undercover agent to bring back the stamped copy of the fraudulent deed so that Taylor could file it at the Office of the Cook County Recorder of Deeds, according to the indictment.
The indictment was announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and John A. Brown, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The mail fraud charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, a $250,000.00 fine and mandatory restitution. Each count of wire fraud is punishable by a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or gross loss resulting from the offense, whichever is greater. If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal sentencing statutes and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.
The government is represented by Assistant United States Attorney Megan Church.
J & J Ranch, Stone Mtn, GA 