U.S. indicts Md. man in mortgage fraud

GREENBELT, Md., March 9 (UPI) -- Authorities Tuesday arrested a Maryland man in what the Department of Justice called a massive mortgage fraud scheme that left victims homeless.

Rolando Alonzo Cousins, 31, of Bowie, Md., was indicted Monday on charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, mail fraud and money laundering, the Maryland U.S. Attorney's office said in a news release. Prosecutors said the alleged scheme involved promises to help homeowners avoid foreclosure, keep their homes and repair their credit, but ended up leaving victims homeless and with no equity.

The 11-count indictment alleges that Cousins, a senior loan officer with the Metropolitan Money Store in Lanham, Md., and several business associates paid straw buyers who then obtained fraudulently inflated loans, raised their credit scores and then qualified for more favorable mortgages. Straw buyers allegedly took equity out of the properties for their personal use and stopped making mortgage payments, resulting in properties being foreclosed upon.

Victims were persuaded to sell their homes but only on a temporary basis, and would be able to reacquire the title to their properties after repairing their own credit and obtaining more favorable mortgages, the Justice Department said.

The indictment seeks forfeiture of $1.5 million that prosecutors allege Cousins collected through the scheme.

Cousins faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine for the conspiracy and each of the mail fraud counts, and 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each of the money-laundering counts.

Eleven co-conspirators have already pleaded guilty and have been sentenced in the case.