Suspect in fraud scheme surrenders

A fifth defendant accused of a multi-million dollar mortgage fraud scheme has turned himself in to federal authorities, while two of those indicted plan to plead guilty to some of the allegations.

In the meantime, the defense attorney for one of the four already accused in the alleged scheme said that action in his client's case would not move forward until sometime in the fall.

Roger Ritch of Shelbyville, along with William McMahan, Jonathan Henderson and Carrie Snow, all of Murfreesboro, were charged in May with bank fraud and money laundering in an alleged scheme involving hundreds of homes in Shelbyville.

According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Humble, Bradley Aydelott of Houston, Texas has been added as a defendant and surrendered to federal authorities on Monday.

Aydelott, whom Humble identified as an individual who worked for McMahan processing loan applications, is also charged with bank fraud and money laundering.

Also, Humble told the T-G that Snow and Henderson have filed a notice of intent to plead guilty to counts one and four of the federal indictment, which states that the defendant allegedly obtained financing under false pretences and falsely represented the employment status and income of borrowers.

Snow is scheduled to have a change of plea hearing on Aug. 3 before District Judge Harry S. Mattice Jr., while a date for Henderson has not been set, Humble said.

Ritch's attorney, John Norton, said he is still exchanging documents and information with federal officials and told the T-G that Aydelott's attorneys were not able to surrender him until this week.

This required that the scheduling order in the federal case to be modified, Norton explained, so that the Houston man's attorneys would have enough time to prepare for the case.

"We're probably looking at October or later before any dispositional aspect of this case will take place," Norton said.

Humble confirmed that the trial date for Ritch and McMahan, which was initially scheduled for July 28, would likely be reset.

The federal indictments allege that the four devised a scheme to obtain financing under false pretenses for purchasers of residential properties developed by American Value Homes, a construction company that Ritch owned in Shelbyville.

As part of the scheme, the indictment alleges that the defendants did business as Mortgage Processing Services and Value Title, prepared loan applications containing false information, misrepresented the down payment amount made by borrowers, and falsely represented the employment status and income of borrowers.

According to the Bedford County Sheriff's Department, the scheme involved the sale of houses by Ritch's company totalling approximately $30 million, and foreclosure on the fraudulent loans has resulted in a loss to lenders totaling approximately $2.4 million.

The five are currently free after signing an agreement which requires a $20,000 bond that can be revoked by a federal judge if the suspects do anything to violate the terms -- even a traffic ticket could place them back in federal custody.