Thursday, March 3, 2011

http://www.reflector.com/ap/staten/feds-name-credit-doctor-nc-indictment-341224

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A man who called himself "the credit doctor of North Carolina" is accused of committing almost $5 million in financial fraud in a 74-count indictment with charges including bank fraud, wire fraud and money laundering.

The Feb. 23 indictment was unsealed Wednesday against James Walter Goddard, 40, of Wilmington. It also includes charges of obstruction of justice and aggravated identity theft.

He is accused of submitting hundreds of false applications in the names of multiple people and business for for credit cards and lines of credit from 2005 to 2009. The indictment claims he caused more than $4 million in credit application and wire fraud from 2005 to 2011 and he laundered $950,000 in merchant payments to his accounts from 2006 to 2009.

Goddard would get personal information such as names, address, Social Security numbers and date of birth when he met with people, but he didn't discuss individual and business annual income, the indictment says. People believed they were getting one or two credit cards, but Goddard instead got between 10 to 20 cards in their names, the indictment says.

Goddard, who said his specialties included credit repair and obtaining credit for newly formed businesses, charged a 15 percent fee on each credit line he obtained.

The indictment also charges that banks granted significant credit card and business lines of credit based on applications that included false information, including years of operation and gross revenue.

Goddard's office didn't immediately return a message left Thursday, and another number listed in his wife's name is no longer in service. Goddard also didn't respond to an e-mail, and a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Raleigh said she didn't have an attorney for Goddard on file.

The maximum penalty for bank fraud is 30 years in prison, while wire fraud, money laundering and obstruction of justice convictions can result in up to 20 years behind bars. Aggravated identity theft carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison.