TEXAS MAN SENTENCED FOR WIRE FRAUD

CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE – United States Attorney for the District of New Hampshire Tom Colantuono and FBI Special Agent in Charge Warren T. Bamford announced today that Larry Stallings, 55, of Watauga, Texas, was sentenced to 160 months in federal prison after a jury convicted Stallings on two counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud based upon an advance fee loan scheme that Stallings ran from his residence in Texas.

On June 28, 2007, a jury found that the defendant and others, including the defendant’s son, Christopher Stallings, engaged in a scheme to defraud that began in early 2003 and ran until the defendant was arrested on October 27, 2005. The conspirators held themselves out, through advertising on the Internet and through referrals by so-called mortgage brokers, as individuals who had capital to lend to borrowers who could not obtain conventional financing. The conspirators required that the borrowers pay an advance fee of 10% of the amount of the loan so that an insurance binder could be purchased to protect against default by the borrowers. The Stallings told the buyers that the 10% advance payment would be refunded if the loan did not close. During the course of the scheme, the conspirators collected over two million dollars in advance payments. Stallings spent most of the money on living expenses, the purchase of a $53,000 vehicle for cash and a $200,000 deposit on a $2.4 million dollar mansion.

A sentencing hearing for Christopher Stallings is scheduled for February 21, 2008. Michael Wyatt, another conspirator who was convicted after a trial in October 2007, is scheduled for sentencing on April 21, 2008.

U.S. Attorney Colantuono stated: “The substantial sentence imposed on this defendant should serve as a warning to those who would engage in financial fraud through the Internet. Financial fraud causes the victim to lose more than just money. The fraud in this case had a devastating impact on its victims, who lost homes, businesses, and their reputations. This office is committed to prosecuting those who would use the Internet to commit financial crimes.”

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Don Feith.