Kidder attorney pleads guilty to five counts of bank fraud

Mrs. Harpster was present with her attorney and waived her right to a grand jury before Chief U.S. District Judge Fernando J. Gaitan, Jr.
Harpster obtained loans totaling over $866,000 from Norbank of North Kansas City by fraudulently taking liens against land which she did not own.
For each of those loans, Harpster admitted, she falsely claimed to have contracts with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City, Utah, under which the LDS Church would purchase Daviess County properties from her.
If Norbank would loan her the funds to purchase the properties, Harpster told the bank, then she would sell those properties to the LDS Church one year later at a price of at least $1,300 per acre above her original purchase price, or above the average appraised value of the properties.
For each of the five loans, Harpster submitted false and fraudulent contracts for the sale and purchase of real estate in connection with applications for loans.

Harpster also told Norbank that Northwest Missouri Title would handle the closing and would obtain title insurance for her purchase of the properties and for the sale of the properties to the LDS Church.
Harpster falsely represented to Norbank that she had obtained a title commitment and title insurance for each of the properties, when in fact she had not done so and the title insurance documents she provided to Norbank were false and fraudulent.
Harpster falsely represented to Norbank that she had recorded deeds of trust from Northwest Missouri Title to Norbank, thereby securing the liens on the properties in the amounts of the loans.
Harpster admitted that, when the bank disbursed the loans in the form of cashier’s checks, she used the proceeds for personal expenditures and not for the purposes represented.
Under federal statutes, Harpster could be subject to a sentence of up to 30 years in federal prison without parole for each of the five counts of bank fraud, plus a fine up to $1 million and an order of restitution. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United State Probation Office.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Linda Parker Marshall. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Daviess County Sheriff’s Office have been conducting this investigation since February.
Northwest Missouri Title Company LLC and Harpster Law Office, 102 S. Market Street, Gallatin, have been closed for some time.
The Daviess County Circuit Court received notification May 16, 2007, from The Missouri Bar that Dawn Harpster of Harpster Law Office, 102 S. Market Street, Gallatin, had been suspended from the roll of attorneys for failure to comply with Rule 5.245 – suspension for failure to pay tax. Notification was also received that Harpster had been stricken from the roll of attorneys for nonpayment of the enrollment fee. Both of these notices have been posted in the Circuit Clerk’s office.
The Daviess County Recorder’s Office became aware of a problem in the land records on Feb. 22, 2007, when a local abstracting company notified Recorder Georgia Maxwell that Northwest Missouri Title Company LLC had borrowed money from Norbank in North Kansas City on land for which the Recorder’s Office did not show Northwest Title as owner.
A short time later, a second abstracting company also inquired about a trust deed for which Northwest Missouri Title was not the recorded owner of the land.
That afternoon, John Bundy, owner of 2-B Enterprises, came to the Recorder’s Office after hearing that there had been an encumbrance placed on his land. At that time, the recorder gave Bundy and his accountant copies of the mortgage deeds in question.
The following Friday, the recorder also took copies of the deeds in question to the Daviess County Sheriff and Prosecuting Attorney, in case Mr. Bundy should contact their offices. At that time, Daviess County Sheriff Kevin Heldenbrand followed leads and collected the evidence which led to Harpster’s guilty plea in federal court.
Six mortgage deeds in Daviess County were in question.
> On May 5, 2006, Northwest Missouri Title Company LLC, owned by Harpster, borrowed $243,600 from Norbank of North Kansas City on land in Section 33 of East Grand River Township.
Northwest Missouri Title did not own any land in Daviess County at that time. The land in the trust deed belonged to Keith and Dawn Harpster. On March 8, 2007, this ground was deeded from Keith and Dawn Harpster to Northwest Missouri Title, and Northwest Missouri Title Company borrowed $243,600 from Norbank on this land. On July 9, 2007, Northwest Missouri Title and Dawn Harpster quit claimed the land to Norbank.
This was the first time that Northwest Missouri Title owned Daviess County Land. This trust deed is not currently released, but it is owned by Norbank now.
> On Oct. 24, 2006, Northwest Missouri Title Company borrowed $60,900 from Norbank on land in Section 25 of Colfax Township. Northwest Missouri Title did not own any Daviess County land at that time. This particular land belonged to Steve and Denise C. Dahms. This trust deed was released by Norbank on Nov. 2, 2006.
> On Nov. 2, 2006, Northwest Missouri Title Company borrowed $182,700 from Norbank on this same land in Section 25 of Colfax Township. The land is still owned by Steve Dahms. This trust deed was released April 2, 2007, by Norbank.
> On Nov. 2, 2006, Northwest Missouri Title Company LLC also borrowed $60,900 from Norbank on land in Section 24 of Colfax Township. Northwest Missouri Title did not own any land in Daviess County at that time. The land was actually owned by Sylvia Story and 2-B Enterprises. This trust deed was released April 2, 2007, by Norbank.
> On Nov. 2, 2006, Northwest Missouri Title Company borrowed $248,675 from Nor- bank on land in Section 5 of Union Township.
Northwest Missouri Title owned no land in Daviess County at that time. The land in the trust deed actually belonged to Joe and Laura Charlene Caraway, Jim and Virginia Tague, and Homer and LuAnn Rainey. This trust deed has not been released.
> On Dec. 27, 2006, Northwest Missouri Title Company borrowed $130,935 from Nor- bank on land in Section 31 of Sheridan Township. The title company did not own any land in Daviess County; the land actually belonged to Leslie Kirkland Jr. This trust deed has not been released.
On March 13, 2007, Leslie Kirkland Jr. deeded this land in Section 31 of Sheridan Township to Keith C. and Dawn Harpster. On June 29, 2007, Leslie Kirkland again deeded land in Section 19 and Section 31 of Sheridan Township  to Keith and Dawn Harpster.
On July 9, 2007, Northwest Missouri Title (which was never the owner of record of the land) and Dawn Harpster, individually, quit claimed land in Section 31 of Sheridan Township to Norbank. Keith Harpster did not sign this transfer deed. The land is currently owned by Keith Harpster and Norbank. The trust deed has not been released.
Not all property owners with land involved may know that their land was tainted, and not all land has been cleared, as of today, according to Daviess County Recorder Georgia Max- well.  Norbank’s attorney in this matter is James Kessinger.