A 46-year-old Virginia man has been sentenced to prison for his role in a $1.5 million mortgage fraud scheme that targeted lenders, sellers, and buyers in Maryland.
Demetrius Peete, of Manassas, Virginia, was sentenced to a year and a day in prison followed by three years of supervised release by U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar. Peete was also ordered to pay restitution of $394,908 to the victims and to forfeit $1.5 million.
According to his plea agreement and court documents, Peete agreed to participate in several fraudulent real estate transactions in 2008 and 2009 that settled at M&R Title, Inc. in Alexandria, Virginia, and Sanford Title Services in Columbia, Maryland. He worked with co-conspirators Bonnie Kreamer, Niesha Williams, Rhonda Scott, and Emeka Udeze to arrange real estate transactions that would allow them to siphon profits out of the transactions for themselves.
Peete negotiated short sales on behalf of sellers in which the properties were sold for a higher price than was represented to the lien holders and the sellers. He and his co-conspirators deceived buyers, sellers, and lenders to make it appear to sellers that they were selling their property at a low price, and to buyers and lenders that the property was being sold at a higher price.
Peete admitted that his participation in the schemes involved at least 10 victims, including lenders, sellers, and buyers of real estate, title insurance companies, and lien holders. He further agreed that the reasonably foreseeable loss associated with Peete’s conduct is approximately $1.5 million.
Peete is the sixth person to be sentenced in connection with the mortgage fraud scheme. Bonnie Kathleen Kreamer, also known as Bonnie Meehan, was sentenced to 51 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution of $2,499,048 to the victims and to forfeit $4.8 million. Rhonda Scott was sentenced to 30 months in prison and ordered to forfeit $2.7 million and pay restitution of $703,000. Niesha Williams was sentenced to 27 months in prison and ordered to forfeit $3.1 million and pay restitution of $1,445,593. Gregory Green was sentenced to three months in prison and ordered to pay restitution of $404,596.
The Maryland Mortgage Fraud Task Force was established to unify the agencies that regulate and investigate mortgage fraud and promote the early detection, identification, prevention, and prosecution of mortgage fraud schemes.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Leo J. Wise and P. Michael Cunningham.
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Key Facts
- State: Maryland
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release —
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