United States Attorney
Northern District of Texas

1100 Commerce St., 3rd Fl.
Dallas, Texas 75242-1699

Telephone (214) 659-8600
Fax (214) 767-0978

FEDERAL GRAND JURY CHARGES LOCAL REAL ESTATE INVESTORS, MORTGAGE LENDER, LOAN OFFICER AND ESCROW OFFICER IN
MORTGAGE FRAUD SCHEME

A federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging eight defendants with various charges related to a mortgage fraud scheme they operated in the Dallas area, announced U.S. Attorney Richard B. Roper of the Northern District of Texas. Seven of the defendants were arrested at various locations throughout the metroplex and in Hawaii. One defendant has surrendered to authorities. The defendants’ initial appearance is set for 1:00 p.m. this afternoon in U.S. District Court in Dallas before U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul Stickney.

The 17-count indictment, returned this week in Dallas, charges each of the defendants with conspiracy. Defendants Donald L. Jones, a/k/a “Don Jones,”61, of Grapevine, Texas , and Joseph B. Jackson, Sr., a/k/a “Joseph Jackson,” 63, of Irving, Texas, are also each charged with ten counts of wire fraud and six counts of bank fraud. Donald L. Jones and Joseph Jackson represented themselves as real estate investors who owned and operated Affordable Homebuilders and the YIN Group in Irving, Texas.

Donald Matthew Jones, a/k/a “Mat Jones,” 35, of Maui, Hawaii, is also charged with three counts of wire fraud. He was an employee of Affordable Homebuilders and also owned and operated home healthcare centers under the names of Private Home Health Care and Brain and Spinal Cord Injury LLC.

Daniel J. Sattizahn, 29, of Plano, Texas, is also charged with three counts of wire fraud. He was a co-owner and operator of Benchmark Mortgage and First Capital Investments. Robert Patterson, Jr., a/k/a Bob Patterson, 55, of Dallas, was a loan officer. He is also charged with one count of wire fraud and two counts of bank fraud.

Catherine L. Dike, a/k/a “Cathy Dike,” and “Cathy Carter,” 59, of Plano, Texas, was an escrow officer. She is charged in 16 counts of the indictment --- one count of conspiracy, ten counts of wire fraud and five counts of bank fraud.

Defendants William Barnes, 59, of Desoto, Texas, who owned BCT Landscaping, and Foday S. Fofanah, 38, of Waxahachie, Texas, recruited straw borrowers. Barnes is also charged with three counts of wire fraud and Fonanah is also charged with two counts of wire fraud.

1 The defendants ran a scheme to defraud mortgage lenders and financial institutions. As part of that scheme, they located single family residences in and around the Dallas area that were offered for sale, recruited straw borrowers to purchase the targeted single-family residences, inflated the sales prices of the targeted residences to an amount greater than the fair market value of the residences; prepared and submitted false and fraudulent loan applications in the name of straw purchasers to secure mortgage loans for the targeted residences in amounts substantially greater than the fair market value, obtained substantially inflated loans from mortgage lenders and financial institutions based on false and fraudulent misrepresentations about repairs that were to be made on the targeted residences, paid the original owners of the residences, and distributed the remaining fraudulently-obtained proceeds among themselves.

The properties used in the scheme were located in Irving, Texas, on Broadmoor Lane and Glenbrook Drive; in Arlington, Texas, on Shadow Ridge, Wimbledon, Racquet Club Drive, and Woodsong Trail; in Sherman, Texas, on Preston Drive and Post Oak Drive; and in Rowlett, Texas, on Beech Street and Orchid Lane.

The loans on the properties have gone into default. The total amount of fraud attributed to these defendants is estimated to be approximately $14 million.

An indictment is an accusation by a federal grand jury and a defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless proven guilty. If convicted, however, the maximum statutory penalty applicable to the conspiracy to commit wire fraud count is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine; the maximum statutory penalty applicable to the conspiracy to commit bank fraud count is 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine; the maximum statutory penalty applicable to each of the wire fraud counts is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine; the maximum statutory penalty applicable to each of the bank fraud counts is also 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine.

U.S. Attorney Roper praised the investigative efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. U.S. Attorney Roper also thanked the Plano, Waxahachie, Desoto, Grapevine and Irving, Texas Police Departments for their participation in the arrests. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tammy Reno.

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