Maryland Feds Continue "Money Store" Sale Leaseback, Equity Stripping, F'closure Rescue Racket Prosecution; Nail Loan Officer With 11-Count Indictment

From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (Greenbelt, Maryland):

• A federal grand jury has indicted Rolando Alonzo Cousins, a/k/a “Junior,” age 31, of Bowie, Maryland, for conspiracy to commit mail fraud, mail fraud, and money laundering, in connection with a massive mortgage fraud scheme which promised to help homeowners facing foreclosure keep their homes and repair their damaged credit, but left them homeless and with no equity. [...] According to the 11-count indictment, Cousins was a Senior Loan Officer with the Metropolitan Money Store (MMS), located in Lanham, Maryland, which offered foreclosure consultation and credit services to financially distressed homeowners.(1)

For the entire press release, see Senior Loan Officer with Metropolitan Money Store Indicted in Mortgage Fraud Scheme.

(1) According to the press release, the indictment alleges that from September 2004 through June, 2007, Cousins, Joy Jackson, Jennifer McCall, and others, operating through several companies, including the Metropolitan Money Store, fraudulently promised to help homeowners avoid foreclosure, keep their homes, and repair their damaged credit by directing the homeowners to allow title to their homes to be put in the names of third party purchasers (the straw buyers) for a one-year period, during which time the defendants would help the homeowners obtain more favorable mortgages, improve their credit rating and eventually return title to their homes to them. Cousins, Jackson, McCall, and others told the homeowners that the equity withdrawn from the properties would be used to pay the mortgage and expenses on their homes and to repair their credit. In fact, the indictment alleges that Cousins, Jackson, McCall, and others paid approximately $10,000 to each of the straw buyers to participate in the scheme; fraudulently bolstered the credit of the straw buyers so they could qualify for more favorable mortgages; obtained fraudulently inflated loans on the properties in the straw buyers names; served as straw buyers themselves; stripped away the bulk of the homeowners equity proceeds and converted that money to their own personal use; and stopped making the mortgage payments on the homes, resulting in the homes being foreclosed upon.

Joy Jackson and Jennifer McCall pleaded guilty to their role in the scheme and were sentenced to 151 months in prison and 135 months in prison, respectively. Nine other co-conspirators also pleaded guilty and were sentenced, according to the press release.