Punta Gorda Woman Pleads Guilty To Wire Fraud

Fort Myers, Florida – Hollie Darlene Dustin (60, Punta Gorda) has pleaded guilty to wire fraud. She faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. Her sentencing hearing is scheduled for September 17, 2018.

According to the

, Dustin, a licensed real estate broker, owned Home Choice Real Estate (HCRE), a company that contracted with the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) to manage and perform preservation services on various Fannie Mae foreclosed properties and potentially list those properties for sale. As part of a Master Listing Agreement with Fannie Mae, Dustin’s company was prohibited from using any vendors that she controlled or with which she had a conflict of interest to perform preservation services on Fannie Mae properties. Dustin fraudulently used ProPreserve, a company that she controlled, to perform preservation services on the properties without Fannie Mae’s knowledge or consent. Dustin submitted approximately 550 fraudulent ProPreserve invoices to Fannie Mae requesting approximately $146,280.46, which Fannie Mae paid to HCRE. 

Dustin also created inflated ProPreserve invoices for work already performed by other vendors, then submitted those false invoices to Fannie Mae for payment.  Dustin used interstate wires to submit the fraudulent invoices to Fannie Mae.           

This case was investigated by the Federal Housing Finance Agency – Office of Inspector General. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jeffrey F. Michelland.