Boston Area Lawyer Pleads Guilty to Mortgage Fraud

Andrea Goode-James, a closing attorney from Roxbury, Mass., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Douglas P. Woodlock to mortgage fraud for pocketing more than $1 million in proceeds of loan closing transactions. According to Michael K. Loucks, acting U.S. attorney for the District of Massachusetts, Goode-James performed closings on three different properties between 2005 and 2007 and pocketed more than $1 million in lender proceeds rather than using those funds to pay off pre-existing mortgages as directed by the lenders. To conceal her fraud, Goode-James made some monthly payments on the pre-existing mortgage loans. She also issued title insurance commitments to the new lenders, which bound the title insurance company for title defects and misled lenders to believe that she had in fact cleared title by paying off prior loans and obtaining discharges of those mortgages. Judge Woodlock scheduled sentencing for Oct. 29.