Fraud and Prevention

Florida Broker Extradited from Jamaica Pleads Guilty

By James Comtois
August 12, 2009

After being extradited from Jamaica, where she fled to after being arrested, Yvette Scott Patterson pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges in connection with "Operation Whose House," a mortgage scheme she operated in Broward County, Fla.

Patterson was indicted in 2006 as part of Operation Whose House, a $10 million dollar mortgage fraud scheme. According to the documents filed with the court, Patterson submitted fraudulent mortgage applications and false documentation to lenders around the U.S. using straw buyers and the stolen identity of innocent victims.

According to R. Alexander Acosta, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Patterson was arrested in March 2008 and detained in Kingston, Jamaica, pending extradition to the U.S. Patterson had fled the U.S. in early 2006 after being arrested and released on separate state charges. Patterson was extradited to the U.S. on the federal charges in May 2009.

To date, nine defendants have pleaded guilty as part of Operation Whose House. One additional defendant was convicted after trial and was sentenced to 87 months in prison.

The Operation Whose House investigation was a joint investigation conducted by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, U.S. Diplomatic Security Service and the State of Florida Office of Financial Regulation.

Sentencing for Patterson is scheduled for Oct. 13 before U.S. District Judge William Dimitrouleas at the Fort Lauderdale Federal Courthouse.