State revokes licenses of loan officers, alleging fraud
By Lesley Mitchell
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 11/14/2007 01:20:41 PM MST
Posted: 1:12 PM- Utah regulators have shut down Champion Mortgage Co. in Sandy and revoked the licenses of five employees, alleging that they doctored loan applications.
"It isn't unusual for a company to have one 'rogue' loan officer, but we rarely see a company with so many loan officers involved in fraud," said Derek Miller, director of the Utah Division of Real Estate.
The state revoked the licenses of five loan officers at Champion - Phillip Rowson of Riverton, Leo Kanell II of Salt Lake City, Eric C. Larsen of Sandy, Shawn Roach of Draper and Carlos Lira of Riverton.
Of the five, only Lira immediately returned calls today offering comments.
Lira, who the state said neither confirmed nor denied the allegations, was ordered to pay a $2,500 fine. State officials allege that he submitted false loan data, including an income statement claiming than an applicant earned $12,000 per month when investigators confirmed that he made only half that amount.
Lira said he did not inflate that borrower's income and contends that he was "strong-armed" into accepting revocation of his license and the fine. He said he considers the state investigation a "witch hunt" and denied any wrongdoing.
"It's either you have money saved up to pay for a good lawyer or you're going to lose your license," Lira
said.
The state, which took administrative actions, would not say whether the allegations against the five would be forwarded to state or federal prosecutors for possible criminal charges.
Miller said Rowson was Champion's principal lending manager, a state-licensed position responsible for overseeing the actions of the loan officers working there.
Rowson has been ordered to pay a $20,000 fine for admitting he employed unlicensed individuals to originate mortgage loans, according to the state order. He also admitted to being aware of several instances in which loans were fraudulently approved with fake documents or false information, and that in one instance he did so himself.
In regard to the other loan officers, Kanell II, Larsen and Roach were ordered by the state to pay fines of varying amounts for allegedly submitting fraudulent information on loan applications.
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