Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Larry Maxwell Mortgage Fraud Trial: He's Mister Lonely--Defendant Waits For Jury To Decide His Fate


Photo By John Hoff 


Following a sharp closing rebuttal by prosecutor Brad Johnson--details to follow--the jury of 12 men and women, good and true, was told by Judge Chu to "DO YOUR JOB" and has set out to accomplish just that after SEVEN WEEKS OF TRIAL. A Hennepin County Sheriff's deputy is present to make sure deliberations continue and nobody is allowed to taint the proceedings. 

Meanwhile, Larry Maxwell waits on the 2nd Floor of the County Government Building, without even the company of family or attorney. An older gentleman who hangs around the law library and chronically observes court proceedings predicted the jury would be out until Friday, but would not go over the weekend. 

(Do not click "Read More" no, for that matter, "Reed/Moore")

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mr. Northside, may I? (sprinkles magic internet dust)... let's travel back in time... kinda like a "Ghost of Fraud Allegations Past"...

(From a Strib Article in 2007! See Below)

A second time around on mortgage fraud charges
A Hennepin County investigation continues with four others named as uncharged conspirators in the case.

By Steve Brandt, Star Tribune

Last update: November 20, 2007 - 7:50 PM

A Minneapolis man sentenced on a federal mortgage fraud charge in 2001 now faces Hennepin County charges involving at least $1.2 million in mortgages that stretched from Bloomington to Blaine.

Larry D. Maxwell, 52, was charged Monday with 10 counts in the alleged mortgage fraud, including racketeering. Also charged with nine counts of forgery, identity theft and theft by swindle was Realty Executive Advantage Plus Group. The real estate brokerage was operated from Maxwell's north Minneapolis riverfront condo.

Larry Reed, Maxwell's attorney, said that his client will plead not guilty. "Because Mr. Maxwell made a mistake in the past, they decided to go after him. He hasn't done anything improper," said Reed, who represented Maxwell in his federal case and said he had also bought a house from him.

The case is the fourth alleged mortgage fraud ring prosecuted under Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman. He said that the investigation is continuing in the case and that he couldn't say if others would be charged.

The complaint against Maxwell lists four other uncharged conspirators in the racketeering count. They are Vickie Cox-Maxwell and Larry Scott, his wife and son and both agents of Realty Executive, mortgage broker Terrece Large of Worldwide Mortgage, Inc., where Maxwell was a loan officer, and Halisi J. Edwards-Staten, listed as the real estate broker for Realty Executive.

The complaint states that Edwards-Staten now lives in Georgia, which according to the complaint would violate state law requiring a licensed broker to monitor Realty Executive.

Edwards-Staten was an unsuccessful candidate for county commissioner in 1996. She resigned from a state supervisory position the following year after being suspended during an investigation into whether she had done anything improper in awarding a $50,000 contract to a nonprofit group run by her then-husband, former legislator Randolph W. Staten.

The complaint alleges that the criminal activity began about June 2006. That's when Maxwell's five-year probation would have expired from his 2001 admission that he submitted false documents so that a client could obtain a federally insured home loan.

The county complaint alleges that Maxwell's transgressions came to light when a Plymouth man complained that his identity had been stolen to purchase properties, first in Minneapolis and later in Bloomington.

But Reed said, "They're going after the wrong man in this case." He said that the unidentified man came to Maxwell with a false identity and that when Maxwell found that out, he went to the mortgage company in an attempt to determine the man's identity.

The complaint alleges that dozens of fraudulent loan applications were found after a search of Maxwell's home and office last week. Maxwell was arrested the same day and bail was set at $250,000 on Tuesday.

It also said that Centennial Mortgage and Funding Inc. of Bloomington, a lender from whom Maxwell obtained loans, told investigators it suspected fraud in 10 property transactions.

-Steve Brandt (Note: Steve, himself, did not repost this article...)

Johnny Northside said...

Quite notable that Reed was actually a CUSTOMER of Maxwell, as discussed in this article.

So it turns out that--given the timing of matters--the photo with this blog post is the last image of Maxwell as a free man, not counting any security cam footage that may exist SOMEWHERE.