Two Sisters Indicted for California Mortgage Fraud Scheme

Ralondria Stafford of San Francisco, and Necole Ward of Las Vegas, were indicted on charges relating to a mortgage fraud scheme they allegedly carried out in Vallejo, Calif., where the sisters used to reside. According to Kyle Reardon, assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of California, who is prosecuting the case, the indictment alleges that between July 2005 and August 2006, the defendants operated RN Realtors in Vallejo, and used straw buyers to purchase properties that they owned to avoid foreclosure. The buyers were approached and offered $5,000 for the use of their name and financial information. The defendants allegedly represented to the buyers that the purchase would be in name only and that Ms. Stafford would purchase the properties back from the straw buyers in six to 12 months. In the course of the conspiracy, the defendants are alleged to have prepared Uniform Residential Loan Application forms in the straw buyers' names containing material false statements. These false statements included, among other things, overstating of the straw buyer's income, claiming employment at employers for which the straw buyers did not work and misidentifying the purpose of the purchased locations as a primary residence. The indictment also alleges that on one occasion, in support of the materially false statements, the defendants attached to the application falsified Internal Revenue Service form W-2s and a lease agreement. A trial date has not yet been set. John Richard Manning, Ms. Stafford's attorney, was unavailable for comment at deadline. Bruce Locke, Ms. Ward's attorney, declined to comment.