TAMPA — A federal grand jury has indicted a Tampa man, accusing him of conspiring to steal from financial institutions.
John Franklin Coleman III, 46, who recently moved from Spring Hill, worked for Spring Hill-based Mid-Florida Home Securing LLC and, after the company changed its name in 2009, became a manager and executive at American Mortgage Field Services LLC, according to the April 12 indictment.
During the housing crisis, the Federal National Mortgage Association owned mortgages for properties in various states of foreclosure, many of which sat vacant. The association, known as Fannie Mae, tasked Bank of America with managing those properties. The bank contracted with Mid-Florida Home Securing, and later American Mortgage Field Services, to do routine inspections of the properties to make sure they weren't falling apart or being vandalized, the indictment said.
But as the country fell deeper into recession, business boomed, and American Mortgage Field Services began receiving orders to fulfill 100,000 inspections a month. The company couldn't meet the demand and started filling out fake inspection reports and collecting payment, the indictment said, benefiting Coleman.
David Weisbrod, Coleman's attorney, said the charges were overblown.
"We're pretty confident he'll be vindicated in the long run," Weisbrod said. "I've not seen any evidence that he committed a crime."
Coleman's cousin and American Mortgage Field Services president Dean Counce pleaded guilty in 2012 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, the same charge Coleman faces. Authorities at the time said the inspection company at one point was raking in $1 million per month.
As part of Counce's plea deal, he agreed to cooperate with an ongoing investigation. Assistant Special Agent in Charge John Seybold of the U.S. Secret Service, the agency investigating Coleman, would not say whether Counce's cooperation led to Coleman's indictment.
Counce is serving an eight-year sentence in federal prison and was ordered to pay more than $12 million in restitution to Bank of America.
Weisbrod said Counce's plea doesn't make Coleman guilty by association.
Coleman, who is not in custody, was also charged with making a false bankruptcy declaration. The grand jury accused Coleman of not disclosing his full income from American Mortgage Field Services on bankruptcy forms.
If convicted, Coleman faces up to 30 years in federal prison on the conspiracy to commit wire fraud charge and up to five years on the false bankruptcy declaration charge.
Contact Josh Solomon at (813) 909-4613 or jsolomon@tampabay.com. Follow @josh_solomon15.