Man pleads guilty in massive mortgage fraud scheme
Court Alerts
[##_1L|1317977729.jpg|width="130" height="90" alt=""|_##]A man accused of stealing the identities of children, the homeless and people in drug rehab as part of a massive mortgage fraud scheme pleaded guilty to federal charges in three states Tuesday. Matthew Cox, 37, faces up to 54 years in prison and $2 million in fines at his Aug. 22 sentencing, but will likely not receive that stiff a punishment.
As part of a deal Cox struck with the government, prosecutors have agreed to recommend that U.S. District Judge Timothy Batten sentence Cox at the low end of federal guidelines. The exact range has not been determined.
Cox pleaded guilty to six charges that were leveled in Georgia, Florida and Tennessee: bank fraud, identity theft, passport fraud, two counts of mortgage fraud conspiracy, and violating his probation for a previous mortgage fraud conviction.
Forty-one other counts against him in Georgia will be dropped as part of his plea agreement.
Prosecutors say Cox and Rebecca Marie Hauck rented properties, fraudulently erased mortgage liens on the properties and then stole the owners’ identities and fraudulently took out multiple new mortgage loans.
They also used stolen identities to obtain driver’s licenses, purchase vehicles, lease mail drops, rent apartments and open bank accounts to receive proceeds from their schemes in Georgia, Florida, Alabama, South Carolina and North Carolina, authorities said.
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Grounds for Divorce in Ohio - Sylkatis Law, LLC
A divorce in Ohio is filed when there is typically “fault” by one of the parties and party not at “fault” seeks to end the marriage. A court in Ohio may grant a divorce for the following reasons:
• Willful absence of the adverse party for one year
• Adultery
• Extreme cruelty
• Fraudulent contract
• Any gross neglect of duty
• Habitual drunkenness
• Imprisonment in a correctional institution at the time of filing the complaint
• Procurement of a divorce outside this state by the other party
Additionally, there are two “no-fault” basis for which a court may grant a divorce:
• When the parties have, without interruption for one year, lived separate and apart without cohabitation
• Incompatibility, unless denied by either party
However, whether or not the the court grants the divorce for “fault” or not, in Ohio the party not at “fault” will not get a bigger slice of the marital property.