I try to stay away from writing on financial matters, but I was very disgusted at the news that came out about a black couple being charged with mortgage fraud because they allegedly misled innocent people who were experiencing some financial hardships. This investigation has been ongoing for a while because I vaguely remember hearing about this couple previously. According to the Washington Post, Joy Jackson, president of Metropolitan Money Store of Lanham, and her husband, Kurt Fordham, were arrested yesterday in North Carolina. Jackson, 40, and Fordham, 38, are charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, six counts of money laundering, and 15 counts of mail fraud to obtain money and property from homeowners and lenders.
They got hit pretty hard too. The Washington Post is reporting that, in a 25-count indictment unsealed yesterday, prosecutors alleged that Jackson and Fordham, both of Fort Washington, and six other defendants used money from the elaborate scheme to pay for a lavish lifestyle that included luxury cars, houses, jewelry, fur coats and travel. The indictment also mentions Jackson and Fordham’s wedding at the Mayflower Hotel, where Patti LaBelle sang and 360 guests ate lobster and shrimp and drank Cristal champagne. Jackson told friends that the wedding cost nearly $800,000. Yeah, Patti LaBelle got a gig by some less than scrupulous people, as the suit alleged.
So, how did they do it? Prosecutors said Metropolitan Money Store preyed on homeowners facing foreclosure. The company would allegedly use a “straw buyer” to purchase a home and tell the owners that they could continue living there and then buy it back after a year. But Metropolitan would allegedly borrow as much as possible against the value of the home, siphoning off the equity and making it impossible for the former owners to buy it back.
Thomas E. Perez, secretary of the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, said the Metropolitan case showed “the need for legal and regulatory changes on the state level. . . . “We had many of this nature, but not of this magnitude,” Perez said. “This was the poster child.” Damn right they need to fix the problem. There is no way these two people should have defrauded the system on such an enormous scale as they did.
Some of the victims include Angele Reid, 63, of Oxon Hill who sought help from Metropolitan. “She put me at risk so she could live the good life,” Reid said of Jackson. “I just hope they are put away for a long time so they can’t do it to someone else.”
In addition to Jackson and Fordham, the indictment names Jennifer McCall, 46, her husband, Clifford McCall, 47, and a daughter, Chandra Jones, 30, all of Lanham; Wilbur Ballesteros, 32, of Lanham; Fordham’s sister, Katisha Fordham, 35, of the District; and Ronald Chapman, 33, of the District. All face mail and wire fraud charges. The McCalls and Jones are also charged with one count each of money laundering.
The charges carry a maximum of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine for each of the mail fraud counts. Jackson and Fordham were being held in Raleigh, N.C., yesterday for a preliminary hearing. The other defendants, except Chapman, had initial court appearances in Greenbelt. Chapman was being sought yesterday, authorities said.
According to the indictment, the defendants, as part of the scheme, told desperate homeowners that Metropolitan Money Store and companies headed by Fordham and Clifford would help them repair their damaged credit before giving them back the titles to their homes. The indictment also said that the defendants fraudulently bolstered the credit of the straw buyers to qualify for mortgages and paid them $10,000 to participate in the scheme. After obtaining inflated loans on the properties, the defendants stopped making mortgage payments, which resulted in the homes going into foreclosure, federal officials said.
“The alleged actions of those indicted fed on people pursuing the American Dream, turning those dreams into an American Nightmare,” FBI Special Agent Amy Lyons said. The Maryland labor and licensing department, which is credited with alerting federal officials to the scheme, began investigating Metropolitan in November 2006 after receiving complaints from homeowners.
Last year, homeowners filed a class-action lawsuit against Metropolitan in federal court. According to that suit, as many as 400 people in Maryland, Virginia and the District were defrauded by Jackson’s company. “For those homeowners who have lost their homes, it’s been pretty challenging while this all this stuff has been worked out,” said Phillip Robinson, an attorney for plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
I am wondering how dumb and cruel this couple could be to defraud and ruin the lives on innocent people who were desperately in need of assistance to save their homes. I really don’t care what the ethnic background of the perpetrators are, but it is a shame that the people involved in this scheme are of African American descent. I feel this way because we have come a long way as a people and living the American dream is so important and an achievement worthy of pride and not turning into a nightmare. We know our struggles as law-abiding, hardworking and decent blacks in America, but it is a shame that our own people could be accused of such a crime of such magnitude.
If they are in fact guilty of these crimes, I hope they throw them in prison for a long time and literally throw away the keys. They have, essentially, ruined the lives of their victims who sought help. It is imperative that we educate ourselves about the mortgage process, who to do business with, the tell-tale signs of questionable transactions and what to look for to ensure that the best deal is in the works for our needs. Simply signing on the dotted line doesn’t cut it anymore, as evidenced from the escalating foreclosures across the country. This couple isn’t the only one guilty of these offences. There are many more out there like them, including the head of Countrywide Financial, Fremont Investment & Loan and all the other companies and mortgage brokers that misled customers into taking out loans they could not afford. The bottom line is that mortgage brokers need stricter oversight, including licensing. As it stands now, any idiot can become a mortgage broker or loan officer. The entire industry needs to be cleaned up. Ms. Joy Jackson, if you are in fact guilty of the crimes you have been accused of, I hope you will learn that there is no joy in defrauding innocent and unsuspecting people who needed your help to stay in their homes. You lived the high-life at the expense of these people, but as the saying goes, “joy is only but for a moment.” Sadly, your moment has come. Just my thoughts, you be the judge……
Filed under: Countrywide Financial, Fremont, Joy Jackson, Kurt Fordham, Metropolitan Money Store, Mortgage Fraud, Patti Labelle
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