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March 27, 2008

FEDERAL WIRE FRAUD CHARGES FILED AGAINST ONLINE MORTGAGE LOAN OFFICER

KANSAS CITY, KAN. – James K. Lamm, 42, Olathe, Kan., is charged with eight counts of wire fraud.

He is accused of fraudulently inflating real estate appraisals so that mortgage loans would be approved that otherwise would not have been approved. In that way he increased his income from commissions on the mortgage transactions he handled.

According to the indictment, from July 23, 2001, to July 9, 2004, Lamm worked for the Bank of Blue Valley, which has six banking locations in Johnson County, Kan. He was employed as a mortgage specialist for the bank’s online mortgage operation, which was called InternetMortgage.com. He was one of approximately 120 employees working in an office at 7900 College Boulevard, Overland Park, Kan.

Lamm received emails from appraisers containing property appraisals. He forwarded the appraisals to another email address, altered them, and sent them back to his email address at work. More than $1.5 million worth of mortgage loans were made as a result of the falsified appraisals, the indictment says.

If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000 on each count. The Federal Bureau of Investigation worked on the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly Hare and Assistant U.S. Attorney Marietta Parker are prosecuting.