Appraisers' Free Forum

A Country Club Hills man, accused of heading one of the biggest mortgage fraud schemes ever in the Chicago area, will remain under house arrest under conditions set this week during a federal court hearing.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel May sought to have Bobbie L. Brown Jr. incarcerated, alleging that Brown has been threatening people involved in the fraud case.

But after Thursday's hearing before U.S. Magistrate Jeffrey Cole, May and Brown's lawyer, Michael Falconer, agreed that Brown would remain under house arrest at his mother's home if he refrained from contacting anyone involved in the mortgage fraud cases for which he was indicted.

During a July 8 hearing for another group of defendants allegedly involved in the fraud scheme, May is expected to provide a list of 30 people with whom Brown cannot have contact.

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Brown, 44, was allegedly the ringleader of a mortgage scheme involving more than 30 defendants that fraudulently obtained roughly $111 million in loans on about 183 homes in locations ranging from the Chicago suburbs to Nevada and California, according to a federal indictment.

It says the defendants included "straw purchasers" recruited to buy homes, loan originators who prepared false loan applications, home builders and a lawyer who oversaw home closings.

It says the defendants included "straw purchasers" recruited to buy homes, loan originators who prepared false loan applications, home builders and a lawyer who oversaw home closings.