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August 19, 2009

Four arraigned in wire fraud case

Four people were arraigned in federal court Wednesday on conspiracy to commit wire fraud charges, according to a media release from Sheldon J. Sperling, United States Attorney.

Gerald Wayne Snow Sr., 68, of Broken Arrow; Gerald Wayne Snow Jr., 40, of Tulsa, who is also known as Jerry Snow; Ayo Dineji Olaniyan, 33, of Joplin, Mo., and Gaile Diana Cates, 37, of Tulsa also were arraigned on a criminal forfeiture.

The indictment alleges that Gerald Snow and his son Jerry Snow built and sold houses in Wagoner County and conspired with Olaniyan, Cates and others to defraud mortgage lenders to loan money on homes sold by the Snows. They solicited and induced buyers by promising to pay down payments, closing costs and provide cash back to the buyers after closing. In order to get the mortgage lenders to loan funds, the defendants conspired to submit false loan applications and inflated the purchase prices of the homes, Sperling said.

All four entered pleas of not guilty. The case is set for jury trial Oct. 5.

The statutory range of punishment is not more than 20 years imprisonment, and/or up to $250,000 in fines, Sperling said.

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