Robin Lewis-Ivy, a licensed real estate agent in Maryland, was sentenced today for her role in an extensive mortgage fraud scheme involving properties in the District of Columbia and Maryland, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips, Special Agent in Charge Ava A. Cooper-Davis of the Washington Field Division, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Special Agent in Charge Phillip Durham, Washington Field Division, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), and Robert L. Hylton, Chief of Police of the Prince George’s County Police Department.

Lewis-Ivy, 48, of Laurel, Maryland, was sentenced in U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia before the Honorable Judge Reggie B. Walton. Judge Walton, after crediting Lewis-Ivy for her cooperation in other matters, sentenced Lewis-Ivy to five years of probation, including one year of home detention and 200 hours of community service. He also ordered her to forfeit to the government $289,700, in which the money will be used to provide restitution to the victims of these crimes.

Lewis-Ivy Information    Douglas Information

According to the government’s evidence at the time of her guilty plea, beginning as early as 2005, Lewis-Ivy conspired with several people to purchase homes in the District of Columbia and Maryland through various acts of fraud. Using her status as a licensed real estate agent, Lewis-Ivy searched real estate databases and identified listings of properties for her coconspirators to purchase. She also drove around Washington, D.C. with her co-conspirators in an effort to locate properties that the co-conspirators could obtain after defrauding mortgage lenders.

Further, Lewis-Ivy and her co-conspirators knowingly used straw purchasers, that is, purchasers in name only, who were mere fronts for members of the conspiracy, to act as if they were legitimate purchasers of these homes. On at least one occasion, Lewis-Ivy helped to prepare a HUD-1 and related paperwork for a loan on a property knowing that the property was going to be purchased by a straw purchaser.

To help the co-conspirators obtain the loans for the homes, Lewis-Ivy and her coconspirators created or had created certain fraudulent documents that would make it appear that the prospective purchasers of the homes had businesses and incomes, when in truth they did not.

When no documents were needed to apply for the loans, such as in the case of so-called “no document” or “stated income” loans, Lewis-Ivy and her co-conspirators placed false information on loan applications for her clients. After these loan applications were completed, Lewis-Ivy sent the applications, or caused the applications to be sent by facsimile from Maryland to lending institutions in California and Washington State. Lewis-Ivy’s purpose in participating in the fraud was to enrich herself and her co-conspirators.

As part of their scheme, Corey M. Douglas, one of Lewis-Ivy’s co-conspirators, opened accounts in the names of fictitious businesses so that he could receive money from the scheme. Lewis-Ivy advised Douglas on how to register these fictitious businesses. Lewis-Ivy obtained real estate sales commissions for these home sales, or money as “repair costs.” Lewis-Ivy helped Douglas receive invented fees at the time of closing on these properties, such as finder’s fees or consulting fees. These payments to Douglas were often wired into Douglas’ fictitious business accounts, such as a SunTrust account in the name C&M Capital.

Also as part of the scheme, Lewis-Ivy attempted to locate and identify properties that she and her co-conspirators could claim as “undervalued” properties, so that they could later secure loans in amounts that exceeded the value of the properties. Lewis-Ivy and her co-conspirators worked with others who were mortgage brokers and could help change the apparent value of properties so that it would appear that a larger mortgage loan amount was justified in order to buy the property.

On December 17, 2007, co-conspirator Douglas pled guilty to a two-count information, count one charging a conspiracy to distribute narcotics and count two charging a conspiracy to commit wire fraud. On May 4, 2009, Judge Walton sentenced Douglas to 156 months on each count, to run concurrently, three years of supervised release, and forfeiture of $800,000.

In announcing today’s sentencing, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillips, Special Agent in Charge Cooper-Davis, Special Agent in Charge Durham, and Chief Hylton praised the hard work of the investigative agents involved in this matter, especially the involved DEA Special Agents, ATF Special Agent Aaron Ybarra, and Prince George’s County Detective Matt Albertson. They also acknowledged the efforts of former Criminal Investigator Diane Eickman, Paralegal Specialists Mary Treanor, as well as former Assistant U.S. Attorney Elisabeth Poteat, who handled the prosecution of Lewis-Ivy and Douglas, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Butler, who handled the sentencing of Lewis-Ivy.