One of the alleged mastermind`s of a $10 million mortgage scam, who fled to Jamaica in 2006, has been extradited to the U.S. and will appear in a Broward County court on Friday.
Delroy Patterson, 47, and his wife Yvette Scott Patterson, who ran the firm Khadmilroy, Inc., in Plantation and Sunrise, Fl., used false documents and stolen identities to fleece mortgage lenders out of millions, federal authorities allege. Scott Paterson is still being held in Jamaica while the courts there process a request for her extradition.
Delroy Paterson faces up to 20 years in prison. One accomplice, Ishmael Grant, has already been tried and sentenced to 10 years. Eight others have pleaded guilty and await sentencing.
They include Christine Brown, 30, of Fort Lauderdale, Megan McGuire, 40, of Miramar, Roosevelt Dozier, 39, of Hollywood, Mavis Grant, 62, of Lauderhill, Adewui Majaro, 42, of North Miami, Mark Reid, 36, of Miramar, Audrey Lynch, 36, of Fort Lauderdale, and Fitzgerald Puddie, 32, of Hollywood and Toronto, Canada.
All are charged with a conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud and aggravated identity fraud, and with several substantive counts of mail fraud, wire fraud and aggravated identity fraud.
Scott Patterson is individually charged with making a false statement in a passport application in July 2003.
The 11 were captured as part of U.S. law enforcement`s `Operation Whose House,` so named because the scheme filled public property records with inaccurate ownership information.
The group allegedly used fake names, employment verification forms, salary statements, and bank account statements, as well as fake or stolen driver`s licenses, identification cards, and social security numbers to apply for 30 fraudulent loans from lenders around the country on properties in Broward County.
According to the indictment, Scott Patterson masterminded the scheme, and used her mortgage business to execute it. The indictment lists 17 properties, all in Broward County, purchased with loans obtained through fraudulent applications and supporting documentation in the names of straw purchasers or in the names of persons whose identification documents, including social security numbers and driver’s licenses, had been previously stolen.
Over the period of the conspiracy, Scott Patterson allegedly received approximately $300,000 in loan closing fees, mortgage broker fees, and yield premiums in connection with the fraudulently procured mortgages.
`These defendants were well-organized and dedicated to getting rich at the expense of others. We will not allow the victims of identity theft to be victimized over and over by those involved in illegal get-rich quick schemes. Thanks to the dedicated efforts of our law enforcement partners, we have put this fraud ring out of business,` said United States Attorney, R. Alexander Acosta.
