Delton de Armas, a former chief financial officer (CFO) of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp. (TBW), was sentenced to 60 months in prison for his role in a more than $2.9 billion fraud scheme that contributed to the failure of TBW.
De Armas pleaded guilty in March to one count of conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud and one count of making false statements.
‘Rather than blow the whistle on billions of dollars in fraud, de Armas chose to help conceal it,’ says Christy Romero, special inspector general at the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP). ‘This CFO lied to investors, banks, regulators and auditors to cover up the massive fraud scheme which resulted in the failure of both TBW and Colonial Bank. The court's decision to sentence de Armas to five years in prison reflects the seriousness of his role as a gatekeeper within TBW and the contribution of his crime to our nation's financial crisis.’
TBW's executives have been the focus of vigorous and successful federal prosecution. In April 2011, former TBW chairman Lee Bentley Farkas was found guilty of 14 counts of conspiracy, bank, securities and wire fraud. In addition, six TBW executives have pleaded guilty for their roles in the fraud scheme, including former CEO Paul Allen, who was sentenced to 40 months in prison, and former president Raymond Bowman, who was sentenced to 30 months.