United States Attorney’s Office
Eastern District of Virginia
Chuck Rosenberg - United States Attorney

ALEXANDRIA     NEWPORT NEWS      NORFOLK      RICHMOND

August 22, 2006

Further Information Contact:
Deanna Warren
Phone: (757) 441-6331

Mordecai L. Smith Pleads Guilty

(Norfolk, Virginia) - Mordecai L. Smith, age 46, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, pleaded guilty yesterday in United States District Court to charges of bankruptcy fraud, aggravated identity theft and two counts of wire fraud. Chuck Rosenberg, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, made the announcement. Smith faces a mandatory two years in prison on identity theft; up to five years for bankruptcy fraud and up to twenty years in prison on each count of wire fraud. He also faces fine of up to $250,000 on each count and restitution to any victims of the offense. Sentencing is scheduled for November 20, 2006.

According to court documents, for the past several years Smith had been involved in a series of fraud schemes that included filing fraudulent bankruptcy petitions to avoid foreclosure on his former residence in Virginia Beach and defrauding a mortgage company into funding a $360,000 loan to purchase a home in which he currently resides by convincing another individual to apply for the loan in that person’s name. Smith also submitted fraudulent documents to the mortgage company which falsely claimed the individual worked for his company earning $90,000 per year and defrauded a neighbor out of $27,000 by falsely promising the neighbor the funds would be used to invest in a $10 million dollar apartment complex in Atlanta, Georgia.

The case was investigated by the Norfolk Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Robert J. Seidel, Jr. prosecuted the case for the United States.