Deandrea Robinson, Chesterfield, Missouri, was sentenced to 12 months in prison on mortgage fraud charges.
According to the plea agreement, Robinson committed mortgage fraud by using "straw buyers" to purchase two Central West End, Missouri properties. The "straw buyers" did not intend to occupy or make payments on their mortgages, but were simply used by Robinson to divert funds from the closing table to companies he controlled. The parties agreed that Robinson's fraud scheme resulted in over $200,000 in losses to the lenders who issued the two mortgages.
In addition to the prison sentence, Robinson was ordered to pay $233,000 restitution to the lenders and will be on court supervision for three years once his sentence is complete.
Acting United States Attorney Michael W. Reap commended the work of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development - OIG, who investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Albus handled the case for the U.S. Attorney's Office.
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.