Loan officer pleads guilty in $33M fraud case

NAPLES — Naples resident Ross Pickard, 63, faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit loan and credit application fraud.

The Tampa office of acting U.S. Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow announced Pickard's guilty plea in a press release.

Pickard was a senior loan officer at JPMorgan Chase Bank, according to the plea agreement, and conspired to defraud the bank with others by “completing, certifying and submitting mortgage loan applications on behalf of borrowers that contained false and fraudulent statements.” The statements included over-inflated income and assets, understated liabilities and false occupancy.