Clerks: MERS Scheme costing millions

``The clerks in both states allege a racketeering conspiracy by lenders who are members of sister firms Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc., or MERS, and MERSCORP Inc. Richard D. Faulkner, one of the clerks' attorneys in Richardson, Texas, and Ted B. Lyon, a clerks' attorney in Mesquite, Texas, said in April that fees lost since 2000 in East Baton Rouge Parish could total as much as $40 million. Faulkner, who formerly practiced in Jefferson and Orleans parishes, and Lyon also said nationwide losses could total billions of dollars. The big banks are fighting back, though, and they won dismissal of a similar case in Arkansas last month.''