A Virginia woman has pleaded guilty to leading a mortgage-fraud ring that victimized hundreds of Hispanic residents in the northern part of the state and caused millions of dollars in losses for lenders.
Rosita Vilchez, 39,
Vilchez ran a real estate firm, title insurance company and a loan brokerage business, all in Manassas, Va. She used all those businesses to conduct the fraud, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The loan brokerage was affiliated with Mount Vernon Capital in Alexandria, Va. The scheme took place between August of 2005 and August of 2007.
She was indicted in September 2012, but she already had become a fugitive. Vilchez was in Lima, Peru until June 2015, when she was extradited back to the U.S.
Vilchez served as the ringleader of an effort to falsify loan documents, acquire loans to buy property, then resell the homes and earn fees from the sales, an FBI press release said.
Vilchez and co-conspirators targeted Hispanic consumers who were unable to read loan documents and did not know of the false statements submitted to lenders on their behalf.
