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'via Blog this'Fairfax County police and federal officials said real estate agents and mortgage brokers used straw buyers with good credit ratings and low income to fraudulently obtain loans they would never have qualified for. Properties were sold and resold within the alleged ring.
In some cases, small homes were torn down and mansions put up in their place. Many of the houses were later used as illegal boarding houses, with the rent used to pay off the mortgage. Others were allowed to slide into foreclosure.
“Profits came primarily from real estate commissions, ever-increasing sales prices and rents,” Fairfax County Police Chief David Rohrer said at a news conference.
He said it was the largest mortgage fraud case the county had seen.
According to the federal indictment, real estate agents Ruben Rojas, 30, and his sister-in-law, Litcia Linares, 32, organized the fraudulent transactions, along with Mr. Rojas’ sister, 28-year-old Lourdes Rojas Almanza, a loan officer, and his brother, Jaime Rojas. They did not have lawyers as of Thursday afternoon.
The other people charged in the scheme were straw buyers, many of whom bought multiple properties.
The investigation began about two years ago after county supervisors brought complaints about noise and traffic resulting from overcrowded houses to the attention of police. Investigators looking into code violations soon uncovered suspicious transactions.
The appearance of suspected illegal boarding houses for immigrant workers in established Fairfax neighborhoods is a sore point for many longtime residents.
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