A federal indictment was unsealed in Oregon alleging that Clifford J. Brigham and Melodie MacDuffee defrauded mortgage lenders out of approximately five million dollars between October 2004 and August 2005. The charges include Mail Fraud; Wire Fraud; Money Laundering; and Social Security Fraud.

MacDuffee, an Oregon resident, was arrested without incident in Southeast Portland. Brigham, who was recently a Washington resident and an Oregon resident prior to that, is in the custody of the U. S. Bureau of Prisons on prior charges.

U.S. Attorney Karin Immergut stated that, “We all pay the price for mortgage fraud. This scheme was all the more brazen because it was allegedly undertaken while Mr. Brigham was on release pending appeal from his 2003 conviction for another loan fraud scheme.”

According to the indictment, Brigham and MacDuffee used false pretenses to obtain millions of dollars worth of home loans – and then diverted loan proceeds to themselves. The defendants used “straw purchasers” to obtain nearly all of the loans. Specifically, the indictment alleges, Brigham and MacDuffee paid people who had good credit ratings to apply for home loans, telling these people that they did not have to repay the loans. Brigham and MacDuffee paid these straw purchasers thousands of dollars for each loan application submitted, in effect purchasing credit histories from people with good credit ratings.

Brigham and MacDuffee also allegedly falsified loan applications submitted in the names of the straw purchases in various ways, including inflating both the reported income earned and assets owned by the loan applicants; falsely declaring the loan applicants’ intent to occupy the property; and falsely declaring that the loan applicants would contribute to the down payment for the loan.

The alleged scheme included purchases of property in Washougal, Washington, and three Oregon cities, namely Beaverton, Redmond and Portland. The property in Washougal, Washington was featured in a "Parade of Homes” and included a view of the Columbia River Gorge. In all, BRIGHAM and MacDuffee obtained over 25 home loans, totaling over five million dollars. Between January and August of 2005, they diverted hundreds of thousands of dollars of the loaned money to themselves. Brigham also took up residence in a million dollar home purchased with fraudulently obtained loans.

The indictment alleges that Brigham committed these crimes while on release from custody pending appeal of a 2003 conviction in federal court on six counts of loan-related fraud. If proven, this allegation will mandate an increased sentence for any crime for which Brigham is convicted.

Each of the twenty fraud charges alleged in the Indictment carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000.