Phillip E. Hill Sr.  Phillip E. Hill Sr. (born 1956) was the ringleader of the largest mortgage fraud scheme ever prosecuted in the State of Georgia. Hill was found guilty of 168 counts of fraud and money laundering on March 14, 2007 in the Northern District of Georgia. On September 21, 2007, U.S. District Judge Thomas W. Thrash Jr. sentenced Hill to prison for 28 years. Hill is currently incarcerated in the Federal Correctional Institution in Marianna, Florida, a medium security facility housing male inmates. His projected release date is August 2, 2031. During his trial, prosecutors identified Hill as the ringleader in three interlocking mortgage fraud schemes built on metro-Atlanta real estate sales that, between 2001 and 2003, bilked lenders out of more than $40 million. According to the evidence at trial, Hill was the owner and operator of "We Build Atlanta, Inc.," "The Estate Firm, Inc.," "Estate Artistians of Georgia, Inc.," "Estates Atlanta, Inc.," and numerous other Georgia corporations. Hill controlled the affairs of each such corporation. Hill held himself out to be a real estate developer, and either individually or through one or more of the corporations he controlled, purchased and sold numerous residential properties in the Atlanta area. Hill oversaw the conspiracy, loan fraud, wire and mail fraud and money laundering activity related to mortgages obtained in the sale of over 50 homes and over 250 condominiums in eight Atlanta-area condominium complexes. These properties were all owned at one time by one of the Hill entities. Each property was sold at an inflated price to a "straw purchaser" who applied for a mortgage loan based upon the inflated price. The straw purchasers who participated in these mortgage flips were paid a kick-back out of the excess loan proceeds for the use of their name and credit. The victim-lenders granted the loans based upon numerous false representations and documents regarding the credit qualifications of the straw purchaser, as well as false representations that the straw purchaser had paid a down payment, would reside in the home, and would be responsible for the loan payment. In addition, the lenders were induced to make the loans based on fraudulently inflated appraisals. Some of the properties were "flipped" more than one time. After a five-year investigation, a federal grand jury in 2005 charged Hill and 24 co-defendants, including real estate appraisers, closing attorneys, mortgage brokers, loan officers and straw purchasers, in an expanding indictment that eventually included 187 counts of mail fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud, bank credit fraud, money-laundering, bribery of a bank official and criminal conspiracy.