Archives > McKinney Courier-Gazette > News
Print
E-mail
Comment
Rate
RSS
Share
McKinney mortgage scam goes federal
An unsealed indictment reveals Brent Timothy Baird will face federal charges for allegedly scamming investors and homeowners on the brink of collapse in a mortgage fraud scheme.
By Danny Gallagher, McKinney Courier-Gazette
For the last two years, the alleged victims of Brent Timothy Baird’s mortgage scam have been wondering on the status of his case.
The McKinney Courier-Gazette received several letters from Baird’s clients asking about the status of his criminal charges since the story went public in Juneof 2006.
“Me and my wife were shocked by the story, especially considering the fact that we have in recent months entered into a business agreement with Mr. Baird for the purchase of a new home,” one Fort Worth resident wrote in an email to the Courier-Gazette back in October of 2008 who could not be reached by telephone for comment. “Certainly you can understand from our standpoint why we are interested in this case."
Those concerns were confirmed when Baird’s name showed up on a federal court docket for an indictment of 19 counts of wire fraud and unlawful access to financial information.
A federal grand jury filed a sealed 19-count indictment against Baird on Dec. 10, 2008 in the U.S. Eastern District of Texas court in Sherman. U.S. District Judge Marcia Crone approved a motion to unseal the indictment on Dec. 23, 2008, according to federal court records.
Baird faces 13 counts of wire fraud and six counts of “exceeding authorized access of a computer of a financial institution for purpose of commercial advantage and private person gain” to illegally obtain more than $3.5 milllion in assets, cash and personal property, according to his indictment.
The court issued a warrant for Baird’s arrest on Dec. 18, 2008. The court later issued an order detailing the terms of his release, but the document could not be obtained and it is not known if Baird has been released from the Grayson County jail, according to his indictment.
Baird ran Baird Management Group or BMG in McKinney from an office located on S. Central Expressway from approximately February of 2005 to March of 2007. Baird’s business attempted to help homeowners who were unable to pay their mortgages by selling their homes to investors and letting them rent the property to the investors.
U.S. attorneys and the McKinney Police Department claimed Baird obtained information on delinquent mortgage holders through employees at Countrywide Mortgage Company. The federal indictment claims Baird made five payments from July of 2005 to May of 2006 to the employees ranging in size from $1,000 to $2,000.
Baird then approached investors with a “mortgage reinstatement program” to buy the delinquent homes and let the residents pay rent to the investors to keep them from losing their houses. The indictment identifies 13 people who made wire transfers to Baird from California, Kansas, Pennsylvania, new York, and North Carolina ranging from approximately $12,000 to $41,000 to join the program.
The investors didn’t see much in return.
“Baird did not intend to use the money investors sent to him to pay on the home mortgages that were represented to the investors,” the indictment read. “Baird used the money instead for his personal benefit and to pay the expenses of BMG. In order to lull investors and make them think they were receiving a return on their investment, Baird used some money received from investors to pay other investors.”
Government officials seized $3,514,932 from Baird as part of his indictment that they believe derive from his alleged offenses.
The court is also in the process of appointing a public defender to Baird’s case, so an appropriate representative for Baird could not be reached for comment.
Contact Danny Gallagher at dgallagher@acnpapers.com.
The following are comments from the readers.
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
You must register with a valid email to post comments.
Only your Member ID will be posted with the comments.
Only your Member ID will be posted with the comments.
Registered users sign in here:
Become a Registered User
- Return to: News «
- Home «
- Top of Page ^
