HOUSTON—Lisa Carol Ross, 50, of Missouri
City, Texas, has pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to commit wire fraud,
United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson announced today, along with FBI Special
Agent in Charge Stephen L. Morris and Internal Revenue Service-Criminal
Investigation (IRS-CI) Special Agent in Charge Lucy Cruz.
Ross, an attorney and escrow officer for
Vision Title LLC, and three others were indicted in 2011 for a scheme to
defraud residential mortgage lenders. According to the indictment, the conspirators
allegedly used fraudulent documents to help borrowers qualify for mortgage
loans to purchase condominium units in the Commerce Towers building located on
Main Street in downtown Houston, as well as residential homes in the Houston
area. The indictment indicates the documents had false and misleading
information about the borrowers’ income, assets, liabilities, employment
status, bank deposits, rental payments, intent to use properties as a primary
residence, and source of funds used to close the real estate transactions.
Today, Ross admitted that she arranged for disbursements from the title company
to be turned into cash and money orders and secretly distributed to the
involved parties.
Ross is currently in custody on
unrelated state charges, where she will remain pending sentencing in this case
by U.S. District Judge Gray Miller on January 25, 2013. At that time, Ross
faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The others charged in relation to this
case are set to begin trial on December 3, 2012. They are presumed innocent
unless and until convicted through due process of law.
The investigation leading to the charges
was conducted by the FBI, IRS-CI, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation-Office
of Inspector General, and Houston Police Department. Assistant United States
Attorney John Lewis is prosecuting the case.
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