A Delaware grand jury issued a superseding indictment on the wire fraud charges against Sherry Freebery, a former chief administrative officer of New Castle County, Delaware. Last week, a federal judge declared a mistrial after a federal jury hung, 10-2 in favor of conviction, and was unable to reach a verdict.
Freebery is accused of failing to disclose a $2.3 million loan in connection with mortgage applications concerning two separate properties. Freebery's lawyers claim that the money was actually a gift from DuPont heiress Lisa Dean Moseley - even though Freebery signed a promissory note and made two interest payments on the alleged loan.
The seven count superseding indictment includes five counts of wire fraud, one count of mail fraud and one count of making false statements to a federally insured financial institution. The superseding indictment specifically addressed many of the problems alleged by Freebery's lawyers to exist within the original indictment and issues brought to the attention of prosecutors by jury members after the mistrial was declared.
The superseding indictment comes after Freebery's motion for an acquittal based on the jury's failure to reach a verdict. If the judge grants Freebery's motion for acquittal, the charges related to the loan fraud will terminate and the government will not be able to retry Freebery on the charges.


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.