GREENBELT — GREENBELT - Federal prosecutors accused eight people yesterday of bilking homeowners and banks of more than $35 million in a complicated mortgage fraud scheme involving phony loans and home purchases.
The defendants, several of whom are related, preyed on homeowners who were in trouble with their mortgages and were facing foreclosure, according to a 47-page grand jury indictment filed in U.S. District Court. Under the scheme, the defendants promised to help them if they would temporarily turn over ownership of their homes, prosecutors said.
The defendants took out new mortgages under false pretenses and made off with the proceeds, U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said in a news conference here.
Seven of the defendants were arrested yesterday in early-morning raids and appeared in court to hear the multiple charges they face. The eighth remains at large.
Experts say such schemes are becoming more common as the national foreclosure crisis deepens and homeowners become more desperate.
"The smooth talker is probably a con artist," Rosenstein said, warning citizens to be wary of such scams. "You should be reluctant to hand over your home to someone who promises to solve all your problems."
The indictment says that representatives of Lanham-based Metropolitan Money Store Corp. and affiliated companies in Prince George's County operated a "foreclosure reversal scheme" in which they tricked more than 100 people into signing over the titles of their homes, ran up equity loans and pocketed the money they had assured homeowners would be put into escrow to pay their bills.
The defendants are Joy Jackson, 40, and her husband, Kurt Fordham, 38, of Fort Washington; Jennifer McCall, 46, her husband, Clifford McCall, 47, McCall's daughter Chandra Jones, 30, and Wilbur Ballesteros, 32, all of Lanham; Fordham's sister, Katisha Fordham, 35, of Washington; and Ronald Chapman, 33, of Washington.
They are all charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and 15 counts of mail fraud, for which they face maximum sentences of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine on each count.
Jackson and Kurt Fordham are also charged with six counts of money laundering, and Jennifer McCall, Clifford McCall and Jones are each charged with one count of money laundering. They face 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count.
