Colorado Springs Real Estate Agents Settle Allegations That They Engaged In Real Estate Fraud

DENVER -- Jana DeWitt and Kenneth Westfall, licensed real estate agents operating in Colorado Springs, have paid the United States $93,500 in civil penalties to settle allegations that they engaged in deceptive conduct that violated the Financial Institutions Reform Recovery and Enforcement Act (FIREEA).  

According to the United States, Jana DeWitt engaged in fraud in at least seventeen bank-owned properties, by falsely listing her daughters as the buyers, in order to conceal the fact that Ms. DeWitt herself was the real party in interest.  Ms. DeWitt’s employing broker, Mr. Westfall, was the listing agent for each of these transactions.  He had a responsibility, and in some cases a duty based on the language of the listing contracts used in the transactions, to disclose to the sellers that the real party in interest purchasing the property was affiliated with him and his company.  But he did not do so, despite the fact that he knew that Ms. DeWitt, his employee, was the real party in interest purchasing the properties. 

To facilitate each of these transactions, Ms. DeWitt wired money from her own accounts to the closing company as the purchase funds for the transaction.  She falsified her own bank account statements to make them appear that the account was held in the name of her daughters, thus providing the seller with proof of funds for purchase while concealing that she was the real party in interest.  For each of these transactions, Mr. Westfall knowingly failed to notify the seller that Ms. DeWitt was the real party in interest purchasing the property and that Ms. DeWitt was affiliated with him and his company.

The investigation leading to the settlement was conducted in conjunction with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jamie Mendelson handled this matter on behalf of the government.

The settlement agreement is neither an admission of liability by Ms. DeWitt or Mr. Westfall, nor a concession by the United States that its claims are not well founded.

####