The owner of a Fremont, Ohio mortgage company was convicted by a jury on all charges in a pending federal mortgage fraud trial where is alleged that clients were coaxed to lie to lenders in order to obtain mortgages.
Roberta Littelmann, owner of Firelands Mortgage Inc., 1204 W. State St., Fremont, Ohio was convicted of seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of bank fraud, on count of mail fraud, one count of conspiracy and one count of providing false statements. She was indicted on February 2, 2005 along with Bonnie Swint, a loan officer for Firelands Mortgage, Inc.
Bonnie Swint was charged in the indictment with one count of conspiracy and three counts of wire fraud. The jury found Swint not guilty as to one count of wire fraud charge and a mistrial was declared as to the remaining counts charged.
The conduct giving rise to the indictment allegedly occurred between May 1999 and December 2000. According to media reports, court records alleged that Swint and Littelmann provided false information to First Indiana Bank, Bank One, Countrywide Home Loans Inc., Centex Home Equity Corp., Fairbank Mortgage and Mortgage Express and that they created fraudulent documents to get loan guarantees from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Rachel Dollar, the editor of Mortgage Fraud Blog is an attorney and Certified Mortgage Banker who handles litigation for lending institutions and secondary market investors.