Operation Homewrecker Nets 19 Indictments

19 individuals were indicted for mortgage fraud-related offenses under Operation Homewrecker. The leader of this nationwide scam is Charles Head, 33, Los Angeles, California, who targeted homeowners in dire financial straits, fraudulently obtaining title to over 100 homes and stole millions of dollars through fraudulently obtained loans and mortgages. Operation Homewrecker is the product of an extensive investigation by the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation.

The charges are broken out into two separate indictments, “Head One” and “Head Two”. Head One involved a foreclosure rescue scam, netting approximately $6.7 million in fraudulently obtained funds taken from 47 homeowners, nearly all of whom were located in California. Head Two involved an equity stripping scheme, netting approximately $5.9 million in stolen equity from 68 homeowners in states across the nation. While still targeting distressed homeowners and defrauding mortgage lenders through the use of straw buyers, this time Charles Head altered the scheme so that he would receive approximately 97 percent of the stolen equity, while his sales agents and employees, and the other defendants, would receive either the remaining 3 percent of equity or a salary from the fraudulently-obtained funding.

Read more at the Mortgage Fraud Blog.