Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Participant In Racket That Bilked Homeowners In 'Mortgage Elimination" Ponzi Scheme Gets 29 Months

In Baltimore, Maryland, The Washington Examiner reports:
  • A District woman has been sentenced to more than two years in prison for her role in a mortgage fraud scheme that authorities say bilked people in the D.C. region and across the country out of $78 million.

  • U.S. District Judge Roger Titus sentenced 53-year-old Carole Nelson on Monday in federal court in Greenbelt to two years and five months behind bars and ordered her to pay more than $34 million in restitution.

  • Nelson and others ran a fake mortgage-payment program called the "Dream Homes Program" beginning in 2005, according to prosecutors and court documents. They promised homeowners that they would pay off their mortgages in exchange for an initial investment of at least $50,000 and administrative fees. But the Dream Homes Program officials never paid the mortgages, leaving the homeowners to fend for themselves.

  • Prosecutors said more than 1,000 investors lost $78 million through the scheme. The program had offices in Maryland, D.C., Virginia, North Carolina, New York, Delaware, Florida, Georgia and California.
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  • Nelson pleaded guilty in April 2009. Other Dream Homes officials were convicted at trials, including founder Andrew Hamilton Williams, of Hollywood, Fla., who is now serving a 150-year prison sentence.
For the U.S. Attorney press release, see Chief Financial Officer Sentenced in $78 Million “Dream Home” Mortgage Fraud Scheme (Received $413,075 in Compensation During Her 20 Months of Employment Despite Knowing That No Revenue Was Being Made to Pay Off Investors’ Mortgages).