Mason City Couple Found Guilty Of Mortgage Fraud
Contact:Peter Deegan
A married couple who made false statements to influence a bank’s decision on a mortgage were convicted by a jury today after a four-day trial in federal court in Cedar Rapids.
Meggan J. Alexander, 29, was convicted of one count of making a false statement for the purpose of obtaining a HUD-insured loan, and three counts of making a false statement to a bank in connection with a loan; she was acquitted of one count of making a false statement to a bank in connection with a loan. David L. Alexander, 33, was convicted of one count of making a false statement to a bank in connection with a loan and acquitted of one count of the same charge. The Alexanders, who are husband and wife, are from Mason City, Iowa. The verdict was returned this morning following about five hours of jury deliberations.
The evidence at trial showed that Meggan J. Alexander falsely stated on an application for a $130,000 home loan that she was employed and had no outstanding judgments against her, when in fact she was not employed and had an outstanding judgment against her from a conviction for theft in Black Hawk County. She defaulted on the loan and sent two letters to the bank in an attempt to prevent foreclosure. In the letters she falsely stated she had been employed at the time she bought the home. The evidence at trial showed that David J. Alexander joined his wife in making the false statement about her employment status in one of the letters sent to the bank.
This case was investigated and prosecuted as part of Operation Stolen Dreams, a national mortgage fraud sweep. The sweep was organized by President Obama's interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, which was established to lead an aggressive, coordinated, and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes.
Sentencing before United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade will be set after a presentence report is prepared. The Alexanders remains free on bond previously set. Meggan Alexander faces a possible maximum sentence of 92 years’ imprisonment, a $3,250,000 fine, $400 in special assessments, and 16 years of
supervised release following any imprisonment. David Alexander faces a possible maximum sentence of 30 years’ imprisonment, a $1,000,000 fine, $100 in special assessments, and 5 years of supervised release following any imprisonment.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger and was investigated by the Department of Housing and Urban Development-Office of Inspector General and the Mason City Police Department.
Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is CR 10-3018.
