Three women are facing federal charges after running a multimillion-dollar mortgage scheme, according to the US attorney’s office.
A grand jury in East Texas charged 35-year-old Nicole Espinosa, popularly known as the “Short Sale Queen,” 44-year-old Stephanie Smith, also known as Stephanie Parks, from Midlothian, and 28-year-old Dallas resident Selena Baltazar-Hill on November 20.
The charges against them included conspiracy to commit wire fraud against a financial institution and conspiracy to provide false information to a financial institution with federal insurance.
According to court documents, the three used multiple internet companies, including Short Sale Queen, L.L.C., to discover homeowners with houses in the pre-foreclosure short sale process and assist in putting them up for sale.
According to the US attorney’s office, after signing a listing agreement with the homeowners, the three women would submit forged documents, such as counterfeit purchase agreements and “proof of funds” letters from fictitious buyers, to banks and mortgage firms in order to halt the foreclosure process.
Once filed, the financial institutions would terminate the procedure and waive any associated fees. According to court documents, this wait gave the defendants time to find a real buyer or terminate the agreement.
According to the attorney’s office, the defendants filed fake paperwork for around 88 properties, resulting in over $8 million in sales, $390,000 in commissions and processing costs, and at least $2.5 million in losses for the financial institutions involved.
On December 4, U.S. Magistrate Judge Aileen Goldman Durrett will hear the defendants’ case. If convicted, they may spend up to 30 years in federal prison.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and the Department of Veterans Affairs are all investigating the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Anand Varadarajan is prosecuting it.
A federal indictment does not indicate guilt. A court of law presumes every defendant innocent until they prove their guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.