The Cuyahoga County Mortgage Fraud Task Force was formed in 2007, with the goal of investigating and prosecuting those who wreak devastation on neighborhoods and cities through mortgage fraud. The Task Force is comprised of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.

With funding from Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray's Office and the Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission, the Task Force has prosecuted more cases of mortgage fraud than any other county in the nation. A high percentage of the houses involved in these mortgage fraud cases fell into foreclosure, contributing to our County's foreclosure epidemic.  

The Task Force recently completed an investigation and prosecution of a major mortgage fraud case that played a major role in the devastation of Slavic Village, which has been identified as one of the epicenters of the U.S.'s foreclosure crisis. One of the main culprits was defendant Mark Kellogg.

I assigned an Assistant Prosecutor in the Mortgage Fraud Unit to prosecute Kellogg, 39, of Shaker Heights. As the deal maker and mortgage broker, he operated a criminal enterprise in which he fraudulently arranged financing for approximately 150 houses, of which 78 Slavic Village houses were listed in the indictment. His enterprise ran numerous schemes to defraud lenders into making over $10 million in bogus loans, of which $5.8 million were detailed in the indictment.

On April 13, 2010, Kellogg pleaded guilty to the 103 count indictment rather than face trial. These counts included engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, money laundering, theft by deception, securing writings by deception, telecommunications fraud, tampering with government records, and forfeiture of all proceeds.

For the first time in the U.S., my office presented to a Grand Jury evidence that the victims also included neighboring property owners who sold their homes and suffered economic losses as a result of the criminal activity by Kellogg and the other defendants. Expert witnesses from Cleveland State University and Case Western Reserve University were retained to testify as to the economic losses that these homeowners suffered as a result of the lost value of their homes. This evidence was submitted to the Court during sentencing to establish that the homeowners are entitled to restitution payments.

At sentencing, the community was represented by Cleveland City Councilman Tony Brancatelli and the Slavic Village Neighborhood Development group, whose efforts played a significant role in the investigation of Kellogg's criminal enterprise.

Kellogg was sentenced to 14 years in prison on May 19, 2010. Kellogg was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $5,831,500 to the lenders and $186,715 to 109 neighbors who sold properties located on the same city block as the foreclosures resulting from mortgage fraud.

This prosecution represented the diligent efforts of the Task Force and showed the connection between these fraudulent loans in the Cleveland area to Wall Street's collapse.

The following are Task Force members: FBI, HUD Inspector General's Office, U.S. Postal Inspector, U.S. Attorney's Office, Department of Commerce-Division of Financial Institutions, Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation (BCII),   Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office, Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Office, Cuyahoga County Recorder, Cuyahoga County Treasurer, Pepper Pike Police Department, and Beachwood Police Department. The director of the Task Force is a Cuyahoga County Sheriff Deputy.