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Mortgage scam mastermind changes plea to guilty
Brent Timothy Baird changed his plea in a federal court Wednesday and entered into a sealed plea agreement with prosecutors.
By Danny Gallagher, McKinney Courier-Gazette
A McKinney man accused of masterminding a mortgage investment scheme that took money from investors and left delinquent mortgage holders homeless has pled guilty to one count of his federal indictment.
Baird's plea applies to one count of wire fraud "to obtain money from persons by materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations and promises and for the purpose of executing the scheme and artifice, caused to be transmitted in interstate commerce writings, signs, signals and sounds." The count includes 13 victims from California, New York, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Kansas who he fraudulently wired more than $280,000 to between August of 2005 and April of 2006, according to the indictment.
Baird also agreed to relinquish his right to a trial and enter into a plea agreement with U.S. attorneys. The court, therefore, agreed to allow Baird to remain released on "conditions previously set," according to minutes of the change of plea hearing.
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.
Contact Danny Gallagher at dgallagher@acnpapers.com.
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"BARNEY FRANK"
"CHRIS DODD"
"CHUCK SCHUMER"
AND
"OBAMA"
TO THE LIST OF JAIL BIRDS! "