A Grand Jury in Franklin County, Ohio indicted a father, mother, son and their associate for allegedly taking part in a scheme to artificially inflate the value of a Columbus, Ohio property in order to collect significant loan proceeds from an unsuspecting lender. The multiple-count indictment includes charges of theft, forgery, money laundering and secure writings by deception against Corey Hazel Sr., 44; Nadine Hazel, 44; and Corey Hazel Jr., 20, all of Columbus, Ohio. Their associate, Mark Corbin, 39, Canal Winchester, Ohio, is charged with forgery and secure writings by deception.

“In this particular case, the property was purchased in January by Mr. Corbin for $35,000,” Attorney General Jim Petro said. “Within three weeks, he transferred the property to Nadine Hazel and recorded the sale price as $235,000 with the Franklin County Auditor’s Office. He then placed a fictitious $145,000 lien on the home. This fraudulent activity gave the appearance that the property was worth more than it actually was.”

Subsequently, Nadine Hazel sold the property at 611 Kelton Ave., Columbus, Ohio to her son, Corey Hazel Jr., who obtained a $211,500 mortgage for the home based on fraudulent income information provided to the lender. As a result of the deal, Nadine Hazel received $168,800 in proceeds from the lender. According to investigators, the scheme was orchestrated by Corey Hazel Sr., who signed the transfer papers and contacted the lender, appraiser and title company in facilitating the deal.

Corey Hazel Sr., was already under indictment on 45 felony charges stemming from a larger scheme uncovered last year by Petro’s office and the Columbus Division of Police. In that scheme, Corey Hazel Sr. and his partner, Clemel Ronald Randall, allegedly submitted forged earnings and bank statements along with false loan applications and property appraisals to secure grossly inflated loans on 30 properties throughout Franklin and Fairfield counties in Ohio between March 2002 and September 2005. During the course of a nine-month probe, investigators determined the duo pocketed more than $2 million as a result of the scheme.

In the last three weeks, Columbus Mortgage Fraud Task Force investigations have resulted in the arrests or indictments of seven individuals for mortgage-fraud crimes.

Mark Corbin

Corey Hazel

Corey Hazel II

Nadine Hazel