Fontana Woman Convicted in Mortgage Fraud Case

Lisa Lievanos, 45, Fontana, California, has been convicted of five felony counts – conspiracy, two counts of wire fraud, money laundering and making false statements to special agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  As previously reported on Mortgage Fraud Blog, Lievanos was one of four defendants in a mortgage fraud scheme that fraudulently collected more than $1 million in loan proceeds.  Lievanos acted as a “straw borrower” who posed as the purchaser of one of the properties.

As a result of the convictions, Lievanos faces up to 60 years in federal prison when she is sentenced on July 13 by United States District Judge Florence- Marie Cooper.

Three other defendants in this case previously pleaded guilty for their roles in the mortgage fraud scheme. They are:

Angela Cotton, 39, Fontana, California, who ran a bogus title company and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 15;

Terral Toole, 41, Irvine (formerly of Lake Elsinore), California, who is scheduled to be sentenced on June 1;

Miles Davis, 46, Glendale (formerly of Reseda), California, a loan processor, who was sentenced to three years of probation, including six months of home detention.

The evidence presented at Lievanos‘ trial showed that Cotton found properties in Rancho Cucamonga and, with the assistance of real estate professionals and people such as Lievanos who agreed to sell their personal information, fraudulently “purchased” one of the properties and obtained a $635,000 loan.

A second loan involved a refinance of Lievanos‘ residence, which netted the defendants $526,500. In the loan application, Lievanos included false employment information, income information, occupancy declarations, and rental agreements relating to her financial condition.

On the loan applications, the four defendants allegedly included false employment information, which included verifying the amounts of income of the straw buyer. As part of the scheme, Cotton established fraudulent escrow companies to complete the fraudulent sale transactions.

As a result of the fraudulent conduct related to the scheme, banks suffered losses of nearly $2 million.