Cleveland Trio Indicted for $1.4M Property Fraud

Three seasoned contractors from the Greater Cleveland area are facing federal charges for orchestrating a $1.4 million property fraud scheme in North Carolina. United States Attorney Steven M. Dettelbach, FBI Special Agent in Charge Stephen D. Anthony, and IRS-Criminal Investigation’s Darryl Williams announced the charges against Camille M. Harris (42), Kenneth T. Embry (56), and Deon D. Levy (43) today.

The trio, all former members of Ameribuild Management Company, are accused of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, actual wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. They were apprehended this morning by federal authorities.

According to the indictment, Harris, Embry, and Levy used false representations on mortgage-loan applications and fictitious invoices to enrich themselves. Around November 2007, Levy was in contact with a realtor to purchase property near Charlotte, N.C. He provided falsified bank statements for Harris’ personal account, inflating her bi-weekly salary payments to $31,260.

Embry, the CFO of AMC, then sent fraudulent tax returns to misrepresent the financial condition of both Harris and the company. On December 21, 2007, he falsely invoiced a North Carolina escrow agent for $340,000 from Wolfco, Inc., claiming work had been done on the property when no such work existed.

On December 28, 2007, Harris applied for a loan with Fairway Independence Mortgage Corp., making several false statements to secure the $1,393,873 disbursement. The funds were used to pay Wolfco, Inc., and were later funneled back into AMC’s account controlled by Harris.

The trio is accused of causing a loss of approximately $599,388 to Fairway and Amtrust Bank. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert J. Patton, following an investigation by the FBI and IRS-Criminal Investigations. If convicted, the defendants face sentences determined by the court based on their roles in the offense and prior criminal records.

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