Joy Jackson, 40; her husband, Kurt Fordam, 38, Ft. Washington, MD; Jennifer McCall, 46; her husband, Clifford McCall, 47; McCall's daughter, Chandra Jones, 30; Wilbur Ballesteros, 32, all of Lanham, Maryland; Kurt Fordham's sister Katisha Fordham, 35, Washington, DC; Ronald Chapman, 33, Washington, DC, are charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and 15 counts of mail fraud to obtain money and property from homeowners and lenders through their "foreclosure reversal" scheme. Jackson and Kurt Fordham are also charged with six counts of money laundering and Jennifer McCall, Clifford McCall and Chandra Jones are each charged with one count of money laundering.

According to the indictment from September 2004 through June, 2007, the defendants, operating through several companies, including the Metropolitan Money Store, controlled by Joy Jackson and Jennifer McCall, fraudulently promised to help homeowners avoid foreclosure, keep their homes and repair their damaged credit, by directing the homeowners to allow title to their homes to be put in the names of third party purchasers (the straw buyers) for a one year period, during which time the defendants would help the homeowners obtain more favorable mortgages, improve their credit rating and eventually return title to their homes to them. The defendants told the homeowners that the equity withdrawn from the properties would be used to pay the mortgage and expenses on their homes and to repair their credit.

In fact, the indictment alleges that the defendants: paid approximately $10,000 to each of the straw buyers to participate in the scheme; fraudulently bolstered the credit of the straw buyers so they could qualify for more favorable mortgages; obtained fraudulently inflated loans on the properties in the straw buyers names; stripped away the bulk of the homeowners equity proceeds and converted that money to their own personal use; and stopped making the mortgage payments on the homes, resulting in the homes being foreclosed upon. According to the indictment, the defendants used the proceeds of the scheme to pay their personal expenses including art, cars, fur coats, international trips, gambling expenses, jewelry, limousine services, student tuition and a luxury wedding for Jackson and Kurt Fordham.

As a result of the scheme, the indictment alleges that the defendants obtained over $35 million in fraudulent loans on over 100 homes and the homeowners suffered losses of over $10 million in stripped equity. The indictment also seeks forfeiture of $35,873,150 obtained as a result of the scheme, including 11 properties owned by the defendants.

The defendants all face a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine for the conspiracy and each of the 15 mail fraud counts. Jackson, Kurt Fordham, Jennifer McCall, Clifford McCall and Chandra Jones also face 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count of money laundering. Joy Jackson and Kurt Fordham were arrested in Raleigh, North Carolina and had their initial appearances there. The remaining defendants are scheduled for initial appearances this afternoon in federal district court in Greenbelt, beginning at 2:15 p.m. Ronald Chapman has not been arrested and is still being sought.

"Homeowners who fall behind on their mortgage payments should be wary of con artists who claim that there is an easy way to avoid foreclosure," said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein. "Just as get-rich-quick schemes are usually fraudulent, get-out-of-debt-quick schemes are usually phony, too. The indictment alleges that the defendants used a ‘foreclosure-prevention’ scheme to cheat homeowners out of the remaining equity in their houses by transferring their homes to straw buyers. The defendants then defrauded lenders by inducing them to make new loans based on inflated appraisals and fraudulent credit applications."

"These types of crimes create a significant loss of tax revenue, drive buyers into foreclosure, leave lenders burdened with bad loans and neighborhoods with abandoned and deteriorating properties. IRS Criminal Investigation is committed to pursuing individuals who commit these types of crimes," said C. André Martin, Special Agent In Charge of the Washington Field Office.

"We are using every available tool in our regulatory arsenal to protect Maryland homeowners from fraud and other unscrupulous practices," Secretary Perez said. "We appreciate the leadership of the U.S. Attorney in this case, and we look forward to a continued partnership with the federal government to ensure individuals who prey on distressed homeowners are brought to justice."

An indictment is not a finding of guilt. An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein thanked the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Secret Service, Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation and the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation for their investigative work. Mr. Rosenstein commended Assistant United States Attorney James A. Crowell IV, who is prosecuting the case.