Maryland Feds Score Another Mortgage Fraud Guilty Plea, Snag Suspect In Another Alleged Scam

From the Office of the U.S. Attorney in Maryland:

Bethesda Womam Pleads Guilty In Mortgage Fraud Scheme (Recruited Straw Purchasers and Prepared False Documents to Buy Properties, Resulting in Over $2.5 Million in Losses to 10 Individuals and Banks):

• Kara McIntosh, age 46, of Bethesda, Maryland, pleaded guilty [last week] to mail fraud arising from the fraudulent purchase of properties in Maryland and the District of Columbia using false mortgage documents, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein.(1)

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Fort Washington Man Charged In Mortgage Fraud Scheme (Case Investigated by the Maryland Mortgage Fraud Task Force):

• Robert Dewain Venson, age 38, of Fort Washington, Maryland was arrested [last week] for mail and wire fraud, money laundering and failing to file tax returns in connection with a three year mortgage fraud scheme involving 13 residential properties, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein.(2)

(1) The "cash back" straw buyer mortgage scheme involved fraudulent loans worth over $19,021,366. Over 10 individuals and banks were harmed. The loss amount foreseeable to McIntosh is between $2.5 and $7 million. Many of the purchased properties have been foreclosed upon. Among the bad acts were the pocketing of money designated on the closing statement as “renovations” that her company purportedly performed. No such renovations ever occurred.

(2) Rather than purchase the properties in his own name, Venson allegedly paid straw buyers to appear at the settlement posing as the buyer. Venson typically would represent to the straw buyer that he would pay the loan obligation and allegedly inflated the price listed on the sales documents to an amount substantially larger than the actual price, causing the mortgage lender to provide funds for the purchase substantially in excess of the actual price, pocketing the difference.