According to U.S. Attorney Anne Tompkins of North Carolina, a Spruce Pine man was indicted by a Grand Jury on Friday on charges of conspiracy, bank fraud, and making false statements on tax returns.

According to the criminal indictment, Randy Alan Carpenter, 54, of Spruce Pine, North Carolina, and his co-conspirators operated a scheme to defraud federally insured banks and individual investors out of over $82 million in residential mortgage loan proceeds through a proposed real estate development near Spruce Pine, known as the Village of Penland.

The indictment alleges that the conspiracy lasted from about December 2001 through about May 2007, and that during that time, Carpenter closed over 300 residential real estate loans to individuals secured by Penland lots and valued at approximately $108 million. The indictment further alleges that Carpenter defrauded both investors and banks by failing to provide the legal services indicated and through various false statements made to the banks to obtain the loans. The indictment also alleges that Carpenter was paid approximately $2 million in fees related to the Penland transactions.

There were five other defendants in the case. They previously all pled guilty and have been sentenced. They all had reduced sentences because of cooperation in the case. Those individuals were:

• Anthony Porter, 55, of Flat Rock, North Carolina, pled guilty on August 19, 2008 to conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to commit money laundering and making false statement on tax return. Porter was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment on June 4, 2010.

• Frank Amelung, 63, of Boca Raton, Florida, pled guilty on August 21, 2008 to conspiracy to defraud the United States and tax evasion. Amelung was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment on July 2, 2010.
• John Kevin Foster, 56, of Atlanta, Georgia, pled guilty on August 20, 2008 to conspiracy to defraud the United States. Foster was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment on March 1, 2010.
• Michael Yeomans, 60, of University Park, Florida, pled guilty on May 9, 2008 to mortgage fraud. Yoemans was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment on November 1, 2010.
• Neil O’Rourke, 44, of Cary, North Carolina, pled guilty on February 6, 2008 to conspiracy to defraud the United States. O’Rourke was sentenced to 39 months in prison on June 3, 2009.

The three charges Carpenter faces, conspiracy, bank fraud, and false tax return charges, have severe penalties. The first carries a maximum of five years ans a $250,000 fine, the second, a maximum of 30 years and a $1,000,000 fine, and the third a sentence of three years in prison and a $100,000 fine.

The defendant was arrested Friday morning and made his initial appearance in U.S. Magistrate Court Friday. He has been released on bond pending trial.