A Northern District of California federal jury convicted Doris Anyanwu and Hyacinth Udeh of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and using false claims of U.S. citizenship.
According to evidence presented during the trial, the married couple secured ten mortgages that totaled more than $3.6 million in loan proceeds. The scammers used the money to purchase four residential properties in Hayward, Calif., Oakland, Calif. and San Ramon, Calif. and also refinanced property in Hayward.
To obtain the loans, the natives and citizens from Nigeria used family members and friends as conspirators to provide the lenders with false information on loan applications including overstated gross monthly income, exaggerated asset balances, and false claims of citizenship in this country. Fraudulent documentation such as verifications of rent, verifications of employment, W-2 forms, and altered bank statements were also submitted with the false loan applications.
Andrew Ashiegbu, who was a broker licensed by the State of California’s Department of Real Estate, and his wife Linda, who is Doris’s sister and a licensed salesperson who owned and operated New Era Mortgage and Realty in Union City, Calif., were conspirators in this scheme.
In February, both conspirators pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud and money laundering.
Another conspirator in the scheme was Ursula Ugamba, a family friend who was a licensed broker and salesperson by the DRE and the co-owner of EZ Mortgage Realty in Tracy, Calif. She also pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud and false declarations.
The maximum statutory penalty for conspiracy to commit wire fraud is 30 years imprisonment and a fine of $1 million or double the gross gain or loss involved in the conspiracy.
