Cole pleads guilty in Friendswood mortgage fraud scheme

Adrian Levale Cole has pleaded guilty to committing wire fraud and false representation of a Social Security number arising from a $10 million mortgage fraud scheme, United States Attorney José Angel Moreno announced on June 29.

Cole, 39, a Houston area resident, was indicted in June 2009 along with two other co-defendants of perpetrating a scheme to defraud lenders of mortgage loans by making false/fraudulent claims on mortgage loan applications and false representation of a Social Security number. Today he pleaded guilty and admitted his role in the multi-million-dollar fraud scheme before U.S. District Judge David Hittner. Judge Hittner has set sentencing for Sept. 23, 2010.

Cole maintained several business names, including AC Homes and WT homes, with corresponding bank accounts. Through his association with several companies—including Capri Mortgage Services, United National Mortgage and Phantom Marketing—Cole utilized those business names to obtain funds from fraudulently obtained residential mortgage loans.

Today, Cole admitted he purchased a residential property in Houston for $110,000 on Dec. 17, 2004. That property was purchased with funds obtained by using the Social Security number belonging to a minor on a mortgage loan application which created a line of credit that was ultimately approved for $99,000. Loan funds from the bank account of the lender were transmitted in interstate commerce by means of a wire communication into the bank account of the title company. Out of the loan proceeds, a check was issued for $69,100 to AC Homes, Adrian Levale Cole’s company, as a “Contractor Loan.” No construction work of any kind was ever done by AC Homes on the property located on the 3200 block of Berry Street in Houston.

As with other loans obtained as part of this scheme, only the first few monthly mortgage payments were made and the mortgage loans went into default for non-payment. More than $10 million in fraudulent loans were obtained as part of this mortgage fraud scheme between June 2003 and July 2006. Cole remains on bonding pending further proceedings.

Cole faces a maximum punishment of up to 20 years in prison and a fine not to exceed $250,000 and a three-year-term of supervise release.

Cole’s co-defendants are pending trial in July 2010.

The investigation leading to the charges in this case was conducted by the FBI, Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigations, the Social Security Administration – Office of Inspector General and Friendswood Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Melissa J. Annis and Assistant United States Attorney Carolyn Ferko prosecuted the case.

Source: FBI


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Recovery Effort in Gulf Expected to Continue Despite Storm

By JOSEPH BERGER

A tropical storm moving across the western Gulf of Mexico that is likely to strengthen into a hurricane is not expected to seriously disrupt efforts to capture oil gushing from the stricken BP well, officials of the Coast Guard and BP said Monday.

Adm. Thad W. Allen, of the Coast Guard, who is commanding the federal response to the disaster, said at an afternoon press conference that high seas produced by Tropical Storm Alex should not force the evacuation of rigs and other equipment from the blowout site, which is 50 miles off the Louisiana coast. Should an evacuation take place, he said, it could halt the work of collecting oil and drill relief wells for about 14 days.

“As it stands right now, absent the intervention of a hurricane, we’re still looking at mid-August," to have relief wells shut off the gusher entirely, Admiral Allen said.

However, BP officials said that what could be delayed, even by current wave heights, is an effort to prepare what is known as a “floating riser system” that will help raise the daily total of collected oil from, about 25,000 barrels to as much as 50,000 barrels. At a briefing Monday morning, Kent Wells, a senior vice president of BP who is overseeing BP’s efforts, said the storm is expected to follow a track that will take it well west of the blowout site, but it may produce waves of 10 to 12 feet, which Mr. Wells said was too high for the “very precise work” on the surface needed to prepare the floating riser system.

Mr. Wells said the containment cap and a second system that are collecting 25,000 barrels of oil a day would not need to be disconnected and the drilling of two relief wells should continue on schedule. The first relief well is supposed to pump in heavy mud and shut off the gusher sometime in August.

Tropical Storm Alex is on a course heading for northeastern Mexico and a stretch of Texas. Meteorologists at Accuweather.com said they are anticipating a landfall between Tampico, Mexico and Brownsville, Tex. Wednesday night or early Thursday.

Meanwhile Associated Press reported that BP had filed documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission that indicate the cost of capping and cleaning the spill have reached $2.65 billion. BP has lost more than $100 billion in market value since the drilling platform the company was operating blew up April 20. The costs include spill response, containment, relief well drilling, grants to gulf states, claims paid, and federal costs, but not a $20 billion fund for damages the company created this month.

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Alex may effect Gulf oil production ..

HOUSTON (Dow Jones)--Tropical Storm Alex, expected to become a hurricane Tuesday, seems to be headed on a path away from the bulk of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico's oil and gas production and refining infrastructure. But some production impact will be felt as one of the largest energy producers in the Gulf said Monday it was shutting down several platforms as a precaution.

Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA) said it had pulled 700 workers from its Gulf operations, and some 835 workers remained offshore. The company is shutting in production from its Western and Central Gulf of Mexico assets to prepare for the potential full evacuation of personnel Tuesday. The company started pulling workers from the Gulf over the weekend. The company didn't specify how much production would be shut or how many platforms were being evacuated.

At 11 a.m. EDT, Alex was located about 85 miles west-northwest of Campeche, Mexico, in the western Gulf of Mexico, and was heading towards southern Texas and northern Mexico. Most U.S. offshore oil and gas platforms are located in the eastern part of the Gulf, far from Alex's forecast path.

Alex "is not likely to have a major impact on production or refining in the U.S.," Doug MacIntyre, senior analyst at the Energy Information Administration, told Dow Jones Newswires Monday. "Alex's current path appears to avoid most of the oil and gas production platforms and any of the major refining centers."

Energy markets Monday seemed to take the storm in stride. Light, sweet crude for August delivery ended 61 cents lower at $78.25 a barrel a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Natural gas for July delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange settled 2.96% lower at $4.717 million British thermal units.

Gulf producers Apache Corp. (APA), Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM), and Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC) also said Monday they have started evacuating non-essential workers from the offshore facilities expected to be in the path of the storm but none have so far reported any impact to their production.

BP PLC (BP, BP.LN) said Monday it pulled non-essential personnel from three offshore facilities in the the Gulf, and that production was not affected. The company evacuated workers from Atlantis, Mad Dog and Holstein platforms.

Alex may delay BP PLC's plans to increase the amount of oil collected from a leaking well in the Gulf by a week, a company official said Monday.

While the storm's winds are expected to stay far to the west of the Deepwater Horizon spill, high seas are likely to become an issue this week, said Kent Wells, a senior vice president with BP, in a press briefing. Waves up to between 10 feet and 12 feet would prevent BP from hooking a third rig up to an underwater containment system, a process that needs three days of good weather, Wells said.

Two rigs, the Discoverer Enterprise and Q4000, are already collecting between 20,000 and 25,000 barrels of oil a day from the well, which has gushed ever since a rig working at the site caught fire and sank in April.

Chevron Corp. (CVX) and ConocoPhillips (COP) said that they have not evacuated workers, but that they are closely monitoring the forecast for Alex.

A hurricane watch was issued for parts of the south Texas Gulf coastline area and parts of northern Mexico, the National Hurricane Center reported Monday on its website.

The NHC, in its advisory, also said Alex likely will become a hurricane Tuesday and has increased in strength, now with winds of 60 miles per hour.

The watch area for the U.S. extends from south of Baffin Bay to the mouth of the Rio Grande in Texas, with Mexico issuing a hurricane watch from the Rio Grande to La Cruz.


-By Isabel Ordonez, Dow Jones Newswires; 713-547-9207; isabel.ordonez@dowjones.com

(Brian Baskin and Angel Gonzalez contributed to this article

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Friendswood part-goers charged

by Chris Paschenko / The Daily News
khou.com
Posted on June 13, 2010 at 12:47 PM
FRIENDSWOOD, Texas — Disturbances related to a house party resulted in the arrest of four people in connection with an early Saturday shooting and burglary, authorities said.

Friendswood police were called to a complaint about a loud party in the 500 block of Regency Court about 11:05 p.m. Friday. Officers disbursed the party but returned at 2:41 a.m. Saturday when the party resumed, authorities said.

The homeowner was out of town, but a female resident, 19, was charged with violating the city’s open party ordinance and possession of alcohol by a minor, Friendswood police said.

At 3:03 a.m., Friendswood and Webster police were called to a complaint of shots fired at a Valero store, 700 W. Parkwood Ave. Officers found several of the revelers from the party but were unable to find shooting suspects. There were no reports of injuries, authorities said.

While investigating the shooting, police were called to a burglary in progress at the home of the house party, authorities said.

Police found three men, who were present at the earlier party, trying to leave, police said.

Cordelrius Dixon, 21, of Humble, and Robert Harris II, 23, of Houston, were charged with burglary. Dixon remained jailed Saturday on $10,000 bond, and Harris was held without bond, police said.

Police accused Dixon and Harris of possessing two rifles and a handgun that were taken from the residence, police said.

Another man, 19, from Houston, was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and released on $414 bond.

The 19-year-old resident was released on $678 bond, police said.

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Rash of car burglaries at League City's Sportsplex

Car burglaries at League City's Sportsplex and around Clear Lake over the weekend has promped a reminder from police to lock up and hide your valuables.

Both of the League City thefts occurred between 6:45 p.m. and 8:10 p.m. Saturday at the Chester L. Davis Sportsplex, 1251 Texas 96.

League City Police Sgt. David Hausam said that in one case somone broke out a window in a 2003 Chevrolet Tahoe to steal a purse and two wallets, that had a combined $1,700 in cash. The wallets were found nearby without the money.

In the other Sportsplex theft, car burglars targeted an unlocked 2009 Toyota Corolla that had a $30 purse and $300 purse stolen.

The Sportsplex is a notorious target of thieves, Hausam said. Last month, a woman napping in her truck in the complex’s parking lot awoke to find a man had opened the truck’s door and sat down inside. He claimed he was checking on her before fleeing.

“There’s lot of vehicles and it’s a big parking lot out there,” Hausam said. “There’s a lot of foot traffic so thieves just aren’t noticed.”

Separately, two Webster youths were arrested in connection with several car burglaries in Friendswood's Heritage Park, Clear Lake City and League City.

Friendswood police reported that around 11:50 p.m. on Friday, an officer noticed two teens walking in the Autumn Creek subdivision. He questioned them and sent them on their way, but a little while later he pulled over a car in the 2400 block of FM 528 and found the same teens inside.

The officer reported he noticed a purse in the back, with its contents strewn around, and several GPS devices and cell phones. Police said the pair admitted to burglarizing cars around the Clear Lake area.

Police said Christopher Hermann, 17, of Webster and a 15-year-old youth from Webster were charged with burglary of a motor vehicle. The teen was released to his parents, and Hermann was released after posting a $3,000 bond.

Hausam said residents need to be diligent about leaving nothing valuable in their cars that thieves might notice.

“These guys don’t have any problem busting a window out to get a purse or computer or something like that,” he said. “If you’ve got something valuable, you need to take it with you or in your trunk. Just putting it on the floorboard is not going to keep your car from getting burglarized. Not locking your vehicle is worse because they just check handles.”

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