U.S District Judge Daniel Patrick Jordan, III sentenced Chris Evans to serve 14 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to bank fraud and money laundering. Evans began serving his sentence in March 2013.
Charles is serving a prison sentence of 20 years but will be released in 2026. He received credit for time served when he was denied bond 2010 after he foolishly went for a gun when placed under arrest.
Charles Evans, Jr. was an attorney approved by Mississippi Valley Title Insurance Company to provide title certificates to MVT and lenders showing a borrower had clear title to property. Chris used over 30 LLC's to obtain fraudulent loans from over 30 banks in Mississippi. Chris Evans would use one company to purchase a large tract of prime commercial real estate in Madison and Desoto Counties. Another company owned by Evans would obtain a commercial real estate mortgage on a smaller section of the tract yet that borrowing company never obtained a deed showing ownership of the land from the other company. Thus the smaller tract did not exist as the larger tract was never subdivided. Charles provided a title certificate however showing the borrowing company owned the land even though it did not own the property. The brothers used other LLC's to borrow $27 million from Texas banks to purchase properties in the Dallas area. However, the phony sub-dividing of property did not take place in Texas.
Over 80 loans for nearly $50 million were issued by Mississippi banks to companies owned by Chris Evans for lands those companies either did not own. Both Charles and Chris Evans filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy petitions. Mississippi Valley Title testified 65 title insurance claims for approximately $41 million have been filed by banks affected by the Evans case.
Kingfish note: This was a blast from the past. It's probably the case that made this website. These were probably my two favorite posts in the whole saga. JJ estimates fraud at $40 million, MVT Calls Fraud Biggest to Hit Mississippi Since Worldcom
8 comments:
incredible coverage, Kingfish.
They have served more time than the Jackson thugs get for murder.
When MVT's attorney and certified fraud examiner starts to think his premonition about having a bad day at work might be right, and he probably started thinking a call to his boss...
Charles Evans, Jr. disappeared and did not return any phone calls. Mr. Jones stated his office seemed to be deserted and had no employees. MVT finally sent a fax to Evans' office asking him to call the insurance company. The next day an Matt Balderidge of John Colette's law firm (Mr. Colette is one of the top criminal defense lawyers in Mississippi) called Mississippi Valley Title and said he was representing Charles Evans, Jr. Mr. Jones said this the first red flag about Mr. Evans. Mr. Jones testified he discovered the following facts:
Over 100 policies were issued to Charles Evans, Jr.
All borrowers were companies controlled or owned by Charles or Chris Evans
Over $70 million in policies were issued by MVT
There were 43 mortgages ($29 million) where the mortgage-holder was not vested with title
40 mortgage (more than $26 million) where the bank had a junior lien when it was supposed to have first lien.
That's pretty damn well well written as well.
I have to agree with @11:07. Sad but true. You get more time for fraud than killing a human.
Just think what a power couple Evers and Adams would have been if they had teamed up together
Don't worry, 3:52...McHenry is still running free and has the play-book. He's bumpin' 80 but has one left on his dance-card.
I knew Chris very very well in high school. At least I thought I knew him. Never imagined him doing something this crooked. As I got older I saw that given the opportunity a lot of well thought of people will steal
7:47 Yes McHenry is still running loose BUT he is a man of the cloth now I understand.
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