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Clearwater Beach Investor Found Guilty of Fraud
August 23, 2010
by K. McKinney
Christopher Alan Stapleton of Clearwater Beach was found guilty this month of conspiracy to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution and three counts of making false statements to a federally-insured financial institution.
According to the testimony and evidence presented at his jury trial at the federal courthouse in Tampa, Stapleton submitted loan applications and other documents containing false and fraudulent information to various mortgage lenders. The loan apps falsely inflated both the contract purchase prices of the real properties that Stapleton was buying and his gross monthly income in an effort to get the lenders to approve the loans.
Relying on those fraudulent representations, the lenders approved the loans and disbursed loan proceeds in excess of the true contract purchase prices. Stapleton paid the sellers for the properties at the actual contract amounts and kept millions of dollars in excess loan proceeds for himself. For example, a St. Petersburg home sold for $1.4 million but was listed on loan documents as selling for $2.35 million.
William Straub, Jr., a former mortgage broker in Pinellas County, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution on December 1, 2009 in relation to the same scheme. Warren Jay Knaust, an attorney in Pinellas County, who acted as title agent in the charged transactions, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution on August 6, 2010. Neither has yet been sentenced.
This case is a good example of how the early involvement of an experienced criminal defense attorney can be quite helpful to a potential defendant. Straub already had a plea agreement worked out with prosecutors back in November 2009 when the charges were filed. They agreed to recommend several downward departures from the sentencing guidelines in return for Straub’s cooperation with the investigation and prosecution of any other co-conspirators. He was also charged with only one count, instead of facing multiple counts like Stapleton and Knaust.
Stapleton faces a maximum penalty of 95 years in federal prison (if he were sentenced to the maximum sentences for each count, with each sentence to run consecutively to the others). His sentencing hearing is scheduled for October 29, 2010.
Locations: Clearwater, Clearwater Beach, Florida, Pinellas County
Criminal Charges: Felonies, White Collar Crimes
Chris Stapleton was railroaded by an amazingly corrupt justice system we have in America. Straub was coached to lie on the stand against Chris Stapleton. Ruining a mans life (Chris Stapleton) using forced lies is morally wrong, and we all know it. The attorneys may get a feather in their cap, but karma is real my friends.
Why blame a few people for these losses when it was the banks themselves who could have prevented the losses by refusing to loan the money. Fraud it easy to detect. They have many validation systems in place. It is the banks who are at fault here not these men.
Attorneys who make up law as they along, while defending the institutions who are bilking the American people of their liberties and property are the down fall of our nation. Lawyers will end up destroying our country. They need to be stripped of their power.
“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around [the banks] will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs.”
Thomas Jefferson, (Attributed)
3rd president of US (1743 – 1826)
Let me get this straight, the U.S. Government is prosecuting its citizens for trying to make a profit? Since when were we not allowed to profit on real estate, or anything else for that matter? Since when does the U.S. Government tell us how and when to make a profit? Isn’t America the land of free market capitalism?
When did we lose control? Better yet, when will we wake up?
Sit back in your chair and take a deep breath then read the next part of my comment.
The U.S. Government has successfully destroyed these 3 men, and many others. The Government is using tax payer dollars (millions in legal fees in this case alone, as there were 2 trials, the first ending in a hung jury) to destroy its own citizens by coercion and bullying techniques causing the people involved in the case to lie about what really happened in order to get a lighter punishment. I ask you, what punishment do we deserve? Punishment for pursuing happiness? Isn’t that our right? I think I read that somewhere, oh yeah… in the U.S. Bill of Rights!
Okay, I know what you’re going to say, you only have rights when you’re not hurting other citizens. Who did these men hurt? The banks? You’re telling me these men bought real estate (4 properties to be exact), with real tangible values, then when the real estate market crashes all over the United States, and the values of that real estate drastically declines, rather than help the citizens sell the properties, the Bank led U.S. Government… I mean the Federal Reserve… I mean… wait a minute… the Federal Reserve isn’t part of the Government… right? So how can the U.S. Government claim fraud (by these men) against the Federal Reserve? Um… okay… I’ll keep going.
The attorney’s prosecuting this case (and many other cases in Florida) are paid trolls who will stop at nothing to get a “win.” Even if it means becoming part of the corruption themselves. Who are these attorneys protecting? The Federal Reserve? The U.S. Government? Which one? Is it both?
The answer is quite obvious. The U.S Attorneys, who are sworn to prosecute criminals on behalf of the American people, are actually attorneys for the Federal Reserve. That’s right. The Banks. Corporations.
You see, the Banks are in the process of the largest transfer of wealth in history. You don’t believe me? Okay. Keep reading.
Millions of homes are being foreclosed as you read this. Who gets these homes? The bank!
What does the bank do with the homes? They sell them, back to us! Here’s the best part… they profit whether they sell them at wholesale, or retail. Here’s how:
If you’ve never taken an Economics class this will be a shock to you.
The banks didn’t actually loan these men (or anybody else) money for mortgages. However, the banks are using their influence over the U.S. Government to cover up their massive fraud against the people of the United States. Remember when Henry Paulson went to the U.S. Senate and asked for nearly $1 Trillion with a 1 page brief? Remember how the document basically said… “we’ll spend it however we like, without any intervention from the government?” Look it up, it’s there.
This isn’t how the U.S. financial system actually started, but this is how the banks have infiltrated and have now designed our financial system:
Here’s how banking works in the U.S.:
For every $100 deposited into a savings/checking account, an FDIC Bank can loan out $900 which they draw from the Federal Reserve. What if the Federal Reserve doesn’t have any money? Well, they then walk down the street to Congress and Congress approves the printing of more money, just like the most recent bailout money. Every time they print more money it makes the money you and I have in our wallets worth less. Its called dilution. Just like pouring water in a glass of juice.
So they loan out the $900 (which they don’t actually have) at 10% and they make profit on money they never had to begin with. In fact, it’s our money, the tax payers, the citizens, and the banks are given access to our money to loan it back to us, and when we can’t pay it back they come and take our stuff and sell it. Even though it was our money to begin with. Wow!
Now, let’s say they loan out $1.3 Million as in the case of Christopher Stapleton herein:
So the bank loaned Mr. Stapleton money that didn’t actually exist (which seems like fraud against a U.S. Citizen to me) then when the real estate market crashed, Mr. Stapleton sold the home in a short sale, taking a personal loss, paying off the bank held mortgage.
So how did the bank lose money again? How did the bank become the victim? The bank borrows money from the Federal Reserve, loans it out and makes a huge profit on money it doesn’t actually have. Then when the market crashes, rather than admit they are committing fraud themselves they divert our attention by claiming that Christopher Stapleton “single-handedly” crashed the entire U.S. Real Estate market, or at least Florida! Even though he only purchased 4 homes. LOL!
Now, here’s the best part:
One could argue that the U.S. Government has the right to prosecute Mr. Stapleton based on evidence that he falsely claimed certain levels of income to induce the mortgage loans, right? Wrong, the banks involved in this case are CountryWide (now Bank of America) and Wachovia (now Wells Fargo)(go figure). If the banks felt like they were defrauded why didn’t they hire an attorney? If the banks loaned money they didn’t actually own themselves, how are they the victim? If the Federal Reserve is NOT PART OF the U.S. Government, how (and why) is the U.S. Government paying millions in tax dollars to prosecute cases for the Banks (Federal Reserve).
Shouldn’t the Federal Reserve do its own bidding? Don’t we already pay enough in taxes without paying corrupt attorneys and judges to make the banks more rich by prosecuting WE THE PEOPLE?
I’ll end my comment by quoting Thomas Jefferson, who warned us over 200 years ago:
I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around [the banks] will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs.
Thomas Jefferson, (Attributed)
3rd president of US (1743 – 1826)
If this were colonial times I would say: “let’s storm the boardrooms of the banks, the court rooms and offices of the attorneys, take the scoundrels out to a field and treat them like they’ve committed treason. Because, in my opinion, they have.
I know Jay knaust, what they say about Karma is true !!
This man ruined my family with his lies in court and I took a deal
that I should never have taken. I found out that I did some very shady deals with him but I thought he being an attorney he knew what was legal. I didn’t know how what happen until it was to late.
I have spoke to many experienced attorneys since and they all say he followed a path to get money and screwed me over
and he never put my interest 1st.
This case that he now finds himself is not a surprise to me, it is a surprise that it took so long for him to get caught at something.
I hope he gets to do a little time in prison, KARMA !
Jay knaust is a very good friend of mine and I can,t believe what are goverment has done to him, are they just stupid or what?you can,t do anything in life anymore without the goverment up your a** and that really pisses me off! Land off the free my a**!!!