Bronx broker charged in mortgage fraud

A licensed real estate broker from the Bronx who hosted a radio program on R&B station WBLS was one of two people accused today in an alleged $800,000 mortgage fraud scheme, the United States Attorney for the Southern District in Manhattan said.
 
Lavette Bills, the CEO of Bronx-based MTC Real Estate, along with Kirk Lacey of Florida, allegedly submitted fraudulent mortgage applications in order to defraud homeowners and lenders, prosecutors said.
 
In one example, Bills convinced a homeowner to put Bills’ name on the deed with the promise that she would obtain a new mortgage to help the property owner make repairs and pay down the original loan, prosecutors said.
 
Instead, Bills resold the house to a straw buyer who had obtained another loan under a fraudulent loan application with Lacey’s assistance, the US Attorney’s office said.
 
Bills and Lacey garnered $150,000 from the scheme, and the homeowner is now in foreclosure proceedings, prosecutors said.
 
Bills hosted programs on WBLS, 107.5 FM, and WLIB, 1190 AM, where she discussed topics related to foreclosure, prosecutors said.
 
Bills and Lacey, both 36, were each charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and face 30 years in prison on the charge, the US Attorney’s office said. TRD