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Operation “Whose House” Leads to Mortgage Fraud and Identity Theft Ring Indictment
Federal authorities unsealed a 47-count indictment last week against eleven individuals for their participation in a complex mortgage fraud scheme involving more than 30 properties bought and sold in Broward County, Florida. In all, the acts committed by six men and five women resulted in the issuance of approximately $10,000,000.00 in fraudulent mortgage loans.
Charged in the indictment were Yvette Scott Patterson, 40, formerly of Lauderhill and now in Jamaica; Delroy Patterson, 45, formerly of Lauderhill and now also in Jamaica; Christine Brown, 30, of Fort Lauderdale, FL; Megan McGuire, 40, of Miramar, FL; Roosevelt Dozier, 39, of Hollywood, FL; Ishmael Grant, 59, of Lauderhill, FL; Mavis Grant, 62, also of Lauderhill, FL; Adewui Majaro, 42, of North Miami, FL; Mark Reid, 36, of Miramar, FL; Audrey Lynch, 36, of Fort Lauderdale, FL; and Fitzgerald Puddie, 32, of Hollywood, FL and Toronto, Canada. All 11 defendants have been charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud and aggravated identity fraud, as well as several substantive counts of mail fraud, wire fraud and aggravated identity fraud. Defendant Yvette Scott Patterson was individually charged with making a false statement in a passport application in July 2003.
According to court documents, the defendants engaged in a scheme to enrich themselves by obtaining mortgages from lenders using straw purchasers and through the submission of false documentation, including false loan applications, employment verification forms, salary statements, and bank account statements reflecting inaccurate high account balances. The defendants also allegedly used and caused others to use false or stolen Florida’s driver’s licenses, identification cards, and social security numbers as their personal identification at closings, in order to purchase property in the names of individuals whose identification documents had been previously stolen.
Also according to the indictment, Patterson masterminded the scheme, and used her mortgage business, Khadmilroy, Inc., located in Broward County, to execute it. The indictment lists 17 properties, all in Broward County, purchased with loans obtained through fraudulent applications and supporting documentation in the names of straw purchasers or in the names of people whose identification documents, including social security numbers and driver’s licenses, had been previously stolen. Over the period of the conspiracy, Patterson is said to have received approximately $300,000 in loan closing fees, mortgage broker fees, and yield premiums in connection with the fraudulently procured mortgages.
The eleven fraudsters were well organized and dedicated to getting rich at the expense of others. Thanks to the dedicated efforts of many law enforcement agencies, this is one real estate fraud ring that now appears to be out of business.
If convicted, the 11 defendants face a maximum term of imprisonment of up to five years on the conspiracy count, up to twenty years’ on each of the mail and wire fraud counts, from two to fifteen years’ on the aggravated identity fraud counts, and up to ten years on the false passport count. The investigation was named Operation Whose House, because, as a result of the defendants’ fraud, public property records did not accurately reflect the true ownership of the properties bought and sold by the 11 scammers.
Filed under: Arrest,Florida,Mortgage Fraud,Real Estate Fraud
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[...] To update a story we first covered back in late-November of 2006, Ishmael Grant, 60, of Lauderhill, Florida, one of the lead defendants in a $10,000,000 scheme to defraud mortgage lenders, has been found guilty by a federal jury in Fort Lauderdale. Following a two week trial in which 32 witnesses testified, a jury found Grant guilty on one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, three counts of mail fraud, and three counts of wire fraud. He was remanded by a U.S. District Court pending sentencing, which is scheduled for June 28, 2007, and now faces a maximum statutory sentence of up to five years’ in prison on the conspiracy count and up to twenty years’ on each of the mail and wire fraud counts. [...]
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