MATTHEW COX SENTENCED TO 26 YEARS AND FOUR MONTHS IN PRISON FOR MORTGAGE FRAUD SCHEMES IN TENNESSEE, GEORGIA AND FLORIDA

Former Fugitive Cox Admitted Using Dozens Of Stolen Identities, Including Those Of Minor Children And The Homeless, To Commit Mortgage Fraud In 8 States
Nashville, Tennessee - November 16, 2007 - Edward M. Yarbrough, United States Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, announced that MATTHEW BEVAN COX, 37, formerly of Nashville, Atlanta and Tampa, was sentenced today in federal district court in Atlanta on mortgage fraud and identity theft charges arising from criminal cases in the Middle District of Tennessee, the Northern District of Georgia and the Middle District of Florida. The three cases were consolidated in Atlanta for purposes of pleas to those charges and sentencing.

COX was sentenced to serve 26 years and four months of imprisonment, to pay restitution totaling $5.9 million, to forfeit $6 million in property and to serve five years of supervision upon his release from prison.

"COX will now be serving the long prison sentence he deserves for his crimes," said United States Attorney David E. Nahmias in Atlanta. "While the subject of a three year nationwide manhunt, Cox repeatedly used the stolen identities of minor children, the homeless and others to place multiple fraudulent loans on the same property without the knowledge or consent of the true owners. His crimes resulted in clouded property titles in several states with years of unresolved litigation, a trail of over 100 victims and missing money."

According to United States Attorney Ed Yarbrough, "COX engaged in the same kind of mortgage fraud scheme while he was in Nashville that he had perpetrated in Atlanta and Tampa. In Nashville, COX, using false names, contracted for the purchase of approximately two dozen residential properties in the Napier area of Nashville and used stolen identities or paid straw borrowers to obtain multiple mortgage loans on those properties at inflated values. COX stole identities by conducting "federal surveys" of the homeless and drug rehab patients to obtain their personal information and then used that information to obtain drivers licenses and state identification cards, lease mail drops, open bank accounts, obtain mortgage loans and apply for a passport used for travel to Greece while he was a federal fugitive."

COX first became a federal fugitive when he was charged with probation violations on December 22, 2003, arising from his February 19, 2002 mortgage fraud conviction in Tampa. An arrest warrant was also issued for COX in Atlanta when he was charged with mortgage fraud in a criminal complaint in Atlanta in July 2004. COX was indicted by a federal grand jury in Atlanta on September 29, 2005 on 42 counts of mortgage fraud in violation of the bank and wire fraud statutes, identity theft, money laundering and conspiracy.

Following a well-publicized nationwide manhunt, COX was arrested by the United States Secret Service in Nashville, Tennessee on November 16, 2006. The Middle District of Tennessee filed a criminal information on March 20, 2007 charging COX with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, and passport fraud here in Middle Tennessee. Similar charges were filed against COX by the Middle District of Florida. COX pled guilty in Atlanta on April 10, 2007 to charges from each of these districts.

"Mortgage fraud is a very serious threat to the economic health of our nation and community," United States Attorney Ed Yarbrough said. "Cox was convicted of bank fraud and grand theft in Florida in 2002 and placed on probation. While on probation he engaged in additional mortgage fraud schemes in Tampa and Atlanta. He was indicted in Atlanta on mortgage fraud and identity theft charges in 2005. He fled to Nashville, where he continued the same course of conduct as a fugitive under alias names. I commend the relentless work of the agents from the Secret Service and the F.B.I. and the prosecutors from Atlanta, Tampa and Nashville for finally bringing Mr. Cox to justice."

These cases were investigated by Special Agents of the United States Secret Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Assistant United States Attorneys Gale McKenzie in Atlanta, Robert A. Mosakowski in Tampa, and Byron M. Jones in Nashville prosecuted these related cases.

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