In the following press release Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Bill Mason announced that Candice Robinson pled guilty to stealing $67,400 from Frankie Jo Henry, a 72-year-old woman from Garfield Heights, in a predatory lending scheme. She faces a possible maximum sentence of 8 ½ years in prison.

Henry’s daughter approached Candice Robinson, 27, of Cleveland, an employee for Great Lakes Mortgage Company in August of 2005. The daughter was concerned about her home due to missed mortgage payments. Robinson deceived the mother and daughter by telling them that the home was in foreclosure, when, if fact, it was not. Robinson told them that $65,000 plus $2,400 in attorney’s fees was needed to get the home out of foreclosure. The mother offered to help her daughter save her house.

Henry took out a $90,000 line of credit on her home and paid off her $9,826 mortgage, plus $7,943 in costs. She was left with $72,231, and then wrote two checks to Robinson totaling $67,400 in December of 2005. Over these several months, Robinson gained the trust of Henry and her daughter.

As part of this scheme, Robinson requested the payee on the checks to remain blank. Robinson put her name on the checks as the payee and then deposited them into her mother’s account. The mother, Martha Robinson, 56, of Cleveland, wrote checks to her daughter, who used the money for herself. The crime occurred from August 2005 to December 2005.

Prosecutor Bill Mason said, “This coldhearted fraud targeted the elderly to line her pockets. She stole this poor woman’s equity in her home of 25 years and destroyed her peace of mind. For such callous and destructive thievery, Robinson should be removed from our community.”

Martha Robinson also pled today to one (1) count of Receiving Stolen Property and agreed to pay back $1800 that her daughter gave her from the stolen money. Martha’s sentencing is scheduled for February 20, 2007.

Candice Robinson was indicted on one (1) count of Aggravated Theft, with an elderly specification, a second degree felony; and one (1) count of Theft, a first degree misdemeanor. Her sentencing is scheduled for February 13, 2007.