Stephanie Corsmeier and Stacey Lester were indicted in the Southern District of Ohio on 11 counts of bank, mail and wire fraud and conspiracy to launder money in connection with their participation in a down payment assistance scheme.

Corsmeier owned and operated a real estate title company, American Security Title, in Ohio, where she employed Lester as a disbursement clerk. From January 1, 2000 through December 31, 2004, according to the indictment, the defendants worked with co-conspirator loan officers, primarily Clarence Harris (who plead guilty to related charges in February 2006) and Ike Bronson (plead guilty to related charges in January 2006) and their shell companies LCI Financial and Inman Realty, to facilitate a "down payment assistance" scheme.

The coconspirators would recruit home buyers to purchase real estate, financing 100% of the sales price of the property with no money down. They would usually prepare a loan application stating that the buyer had funds available for the down payment and intended to use funds from his/her bank account to make the down payment. In fact the buyer didn't have the funds or the intent to make the down payment.

After receiving the wired funds from the lender, Corsmeier or Lester would issue a check from the wired funds to one of the coconspirator companies, ostensibly for sums due in connection with the transaction. The conspirators would deposit these checks to their bank accounts and then immediately obtain a cashier's check for the funds. This casher's check would then be submitted to Corsmeier or another closing agent at American Security Title Company. The settlement statement would falsely reflect that the borrower provided the down payment when, in fact, the down payment had been provided by a coconspirator.

The scheme enabled buyers to qualify for loans they would not otherwise have been able to obtain and also enabled the buyers to obtain mortgages representing 100% of the purchase price as the property were appraised at inflated values and the loan amounts represented the actual purchase prices.

American Security Title Company received substantial fees for the services. Their profit in the scheme resulted from increased business volume.

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