SALISBURY — An Eastern Shore woman now faces 30 years in prison after pleading guilty this week in U.S. District Court to bank fraud in connection with a scheme she carried out with her brother to obtain mortgage loans in the names of family members and using the proceeds for their own benefit.
According to the plea agreement, Jill Dail, 59, of Cambridge, was a loan settlement processor in the mortgage department of a Salisbury bank until she was terminated in June 2007 as part of a reduction in the bank’s workforce. Shortly thereafter, Dail was hired by the manager of the bank’s mortgage department to continue to do the same loan processing work she had performed as an employee of the bank.
The bank manager paid Dail out of his own funds and gave her full access to the bank premises, computer system and loan files. Dail continued to represent herself as a bank employee in her dealings with title companies and other businesses, according to the plea agreement reached this week.
Dail admitted this week that from before January 2006 through at least August 2009, she and her brother Jeff Dail, 49, also of Cambridge, applied for mortgage loans in the names of family members and used the proceeds of the loans for their personal benefit. The Dails forged the signatures of family members and bank officials on the loan applications, causing the bank to approve the applications and authorize the distribution of the loan proceeds at settlement.
In each instance, the family members whose identities were used on loan applications and whose properties were used as collateral for the loans, had no knowledge of the applications or the loans. Based on the assurances of Jill Dail, with whom the title companies had an established relationship, title company employees notarized the signatures of the family members on settlement documents.
The title companies would then disburse the loan funds at settlement to Jill Dail, Jeff Dail, both of them or to their creditors. The balance of the loan funds still unpaid is roughly $357,150, according to the plea agreement reached this week.
Jill Dail now faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000. U.S. District Court Judge J. Frederick Motz has scheduled her sentencing for April 3. Meanwhile, Jeff Dail pleaded guilty in December for his role in the scheme and also faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Jeff Dail is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 21.