Business Blog

JACKSON — The Evans brothers were sentenced on Dec. 19 in U.S. District Court on charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering and bank fraud in what is the largest known commercial real estate fraud scheme in Mississippi history. Charles Evans Jr., 57, received 20 years in prison, and Chris Evans, 53, got 14 years. [...]

Every year, hunters flock to the Delta to take advantage of some of the best public hunting land in the state offered by the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries & Parks’ wildlife management areas (WMAs) and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s Theodore Roosevelt National Wildlife Refuge Complex. This year, however, hunters are wondering if [...]

By Amy McCullough NOTE: Do not expect this post to make sense unless you’ve done a lot of prior reading. Previous posts this week: “Clear and convincing evidence?” and “He worked for us, but he didn’t really.” The Evans bankruptcy court trial concluded today with four hours of closing arguments. Closing briefs are due May [...]

By Amy McCullough MVT attorney Bill Brabec made an unspecified motion on which Judge Olack declined to render judgment until the end of the trial. Brabec said the Bank of Forest had failed to present clear and convincing evidence regarding the claims of fraud and negligent misrepresentation. Evidence shows that “the title companies, when they [...]

By Amy McCullough State Rep. Scott Delano, R-Biloxi, introduced House Bill 1377 this session, which he says would prevent fraudulent schemes such as the commercial real estate Ponzi scheme perpetrated by the Evans brothers. HB 1377, which didn’t make it out of committee, would require all subdivisions, whether residential or commercial, to be filed in [...]

By Amy McCullough Attorneys for Mississippi Valley Title, the Bank of Forest and Heritage Bank gave opening statements yesterday for the long-awaited Evans trial in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Mississippi. Judge Neil Olack will rule on the case. There is no jury, and proceedings will continue through Friday (March 4). The [...]

By Amy McCullough Oral arguments in the long-awaited civil trial of the Evans brothers commercial real estate fraud case have been put off until tomorrow morning (Tuesday, March 1), due to the fact that Mississippi Valley Title’s attorney, Bill Brabec, is sick. In January, the brothers pleaded guilty to criminal charges of conspiracy to commit [...]