Tuesday, August 19, 2008

2 OTR Employees Plead Guilty To Mortgage Fraud

Sheila Jones, 46, and Temika Ganae Gustus, 27, both of District Heights, Maryland, each pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of making a false statement to the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Jones pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia before the Honorable Emmet G. Sullivan. Gustus pled guilty to the same charge before Judge Sullivan. The maximum sentence for making a false statement to HUD is one year of incarceration, one year of supervised release, and a fine of $100,000. A sentencing date has been scheduled for November 5, 2008, for Jones, and November 13, 2008, for Gustus.

According to the factual proffers presented by the government in court, as well as the Jones Information and the Gustus Information, Jones and Gustus, both employees of the D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue, each submitted loan applications to HUD in 2006 that listed fictitious second jobs and bank balances that were inflated by $20,000. Using a scanner and a computer, Jones’s and Gustus’s real estate agent, Alethia Olivia Grooms, created bogus pay stubs and W-2 forms and forged bank statements to support their false claims. These fraudulent documents were included in their loan applications.

In announcing these guilty pleas, U.S. Attorneys Taylor and Rosenstein, Assistant Director in Charge Persichini, Special Agent in Charge Clarke, D.C. Inspector General Willoughby, IRS Special Agent in Charge Martin, and D.C. Chief Financial Officer Gandhi commended the outstanding and dedicated team that has investigated this case, including: FBI Special Agents Andrew Sekela, Julie Shields, Debra LaPrevotte, and Matthew Walsh, and Intelligence Analyst Jessica Pipher, Paralegal Specialist Lucy Sampson, and Contract Forfeiture Investigator Jerry Simpson; HUD OIG Assistant Special Agent in Charge Kathleen Hatcher and Forensic Auditor Robert Fisher; IRS CID Special Agent Nicole Davis and TIGTA Special Agent Edward Bosak; Director of Internal Security Charles Fultz and Senior Investigator Donna Tolliver, of the OCFO Office of Integrity and Oversight; Special Agent Kevin Craddock and Tax Auditor James LeSane, of OTR; and D.C. OIG Special Agent Kerthalia Peavely.

U.S. Attorney Taylor commended Paralegal Specialist Diane Hayes; Criminal Investigator Diane Eickman; Legal Assistants April Peeler, Lisa Robinson, and Michael Thompson; summer legal intern George Ingham; former Assistant U.S. Attorney Geoffrey L.J. Carter; and Chief Steven Durham, Deputy Chief Howard Sklamberg, and the attorneys and entire staff of the Fraud & Public Corruption Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. U.S. Attorney Taylor also commended Information Technology Specialist Oliver John-Baptiste, Litigation Support Specialist Joseph Calvarese, and the entire staff of the Litigation Services Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

Lastly, U.S. Attorneys Taylor and Rosenstein commended Assistant U.S. Attorneys Timothy Lynch and David Johnson, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia; Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jonathan Su and Deborah Johnston, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland; and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Diane Lucas and William Cowden, of the Asset Forfeiture Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

mortgage fraud