I had been hearing rumors that this was coming from some folks in the area. There had been talk of suspicion for some time.

Guess it will all come out in the wash, sooner or later. But no one is guilty until a jury says so.

Valerie  (Jill) was the clerk  for Bates County Water District #6 and # 1,  and stands accused of mail fraud charges and stealing over $75,000 from the people of Bates County.
A federal grand jury in Kansas City indicted Valerie Jill Berry, 35, of Butler, Mo., this week on six charges of mail fraud for filing false information to state officials.

Berry was the sole clerk and bill collector for Bates County Public Water Supply districts No. 1 and No. 6 from 2001 until she was terminated in September 2008, according to federal prosecutors.

She is accused of embezzling about $8,000 from district 1 and $67,000 from district 6 and allegedly concealing the thefts by submitting false reports to state auditors.


Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2010/04/08/1864766/water-district-clerk-accused-of.html#ixzz0kWdFK1Iy

States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, Matt J Whitworth announced that the former president of the Hume Bank; Jeffrey W. Thompson, was indicted by a federal grand jury for bank fraud.

The Hume Bank was closed by the Missouri Division of Finance and the FDIC on March 7, 2008, and later assumed by the Security Bank of Rich Hill, MO.

Mr. Thompson aged 39 of Hume, MO became the president of the Hume Bank in 2001, he is accused of defrauding the bank and making false statements concealing problem loans. He is also accused of abusing the bank's credit card, using it for personal expenditures. (according to reports).

Some of the allegations involve loans to Brad Laning, a relative of Mr. Thompson's wife.

I have been helping the FDIC evaluate some of the property currently in foreclosure in Hume, MO; and from the properties I've seen the damage has just begun.

I did a BPO for the FDIC a few weeks ago that showed the actual property value to be drastically less than what was loaned against the home.

This is just another example of lenders and appraisers over-valuing homes and buyers walking away with a huge debt that cannot be recovered by liquidating the assets.

Thanks for visiting Bates County Real Estate.