Eugene Lockhart arrested for conspiracy to commit fraud [UPDATED 1:54pm, Friday]
FBI Agents arrested former Dallas Cowboys linebacker Eugene “The Hitting Machine” Lockhart at his home in Carrollton, Texas, this morning. Lockhart and eight others were indicted by a federal grand jury on charges including conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud.
From Bloomberg:
Lockhart was involved with several real estate entities, many of which incorporated either “America’s Team’’ or “Cowboys’’ in their names, Jacks said in a statement released by his office. The conspirators concentrated on distressed or pre-foreclosure properties in the Dallas area and used investors as “straw borrowers’’ to falsify mortgage applications, Jacks said. “The scope of the conspiracy involved approximately 54 fraudulent residential property loan closings resulting in the funding of approximately $20.5 million in fraudulent loans,’’ Jacks said.
Between this, the over-sized HD screen getting in the way of a game and a lawsuit stemming from the collapse of their practice facility, it’s been an embarrassing couple of weeks for the Cowboys.
[UPDATE 3:38pm]
More info from Dallas’ Star-Telegram:
According to the indictment, Lockhart and the other defendants were involved with several real estate entities. The indictment alleges that the defendants ran a scheme in which they located single-family residences for sale in the Dallas area, including distressed and pre-foreclosure properties.
After negotiating a sales price with the seller, the indictment alleges that they created surplus loan proceeds by inflating the sales price to an arbitrary amount substantially more than the fair market value of the residence.
[UPDATE 4:55pm] The indictment, below:
U.S. v Eugene Lockhart et al
[UPDATE - FRIDAY 11:28am] Lockhart speaks! From the Dallas Morning News:
Reached by phone at his lawyer’s office, Lockhart said he was “totally innocent” of the charges.
“I wouldn’t know how to do a mortgage fraud like that because I don’t know that much about the business,” he said.
Former Cowboy Eugene Lockhart Jr. indicted in suspected mortgage fraud scheme
[UPDATE - FRIDAY 1:54pm] Jeff Prince, a blogger for Fort Worth Weekly notes that Lockhart is the latest name to pop up in what has become a time-honored Dallas tradition….
After all, there’s a perception among some folks that Dallas has always been over-eager to crack the whip on its African-American sports stars. Ask Michael Irvin, Eric Williams, or Roy Tarpley.
MORE UPDATES SOON….
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