Two Marion County men have been indicted by a federal grand jury in Chattanooga for a mortgage fraud that investigators said involved some $45 million in transactions. "Buyers" from several states were involved.
Paul Gott III, 39, and Joshua Dobson, 34, appeared Thursday afternoon before Federal Magistrate Court Judge Susan K. Lee. They were released on OR bonds.
The 12-count indictment also names the Southern Group, Southern Mountain Resorts, Southern Property Management Group and Southern Real Estate of Tennessee.
It says the defendants offered property for sale and told prospective buyers they would furnish the down payment to the buyer at closing. They said they would cover the mortgage payments for three years. And they said they would purchase an option to buy back the property at a profit to the "buyers" at the end of the three-year period.
The investigation was handled by the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service.