Iowa Woman Sentenced for Mortgage Fraud

COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA - On December 2, 2016, Mandy Lea Whipple, formerly Mandy Lea Johnson, a 34 year-old resident of Page County, Iowa, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Stephanie M. Rose, to 18 months in prison followed by five years of Supervised Release for Mortgage Fraud, announced United States Attorney Kevin E. VanderSchel.

Whipple entered a guilty plea on June 9, 2016, to Mortgage Fraud for falsifying mortgage loan papers to purchase a house in Fremont County, Iowa. The investigation began with a report of delinquent payments on the purchased Fremont County residence, leading to the discovery that Whipple had falsely obtained a Veteran Administration’s loan to purchase the home, using the name and identifiers of a military veteran that employed her.

As part of the sentence, the Court ordered Whipple to make restitution to the Veteran’s Administration in the amount of $41,675.00; to J.G. Wentworth Mortgage Home Lending, LLC, in the amount of $28,904.27; and to Discover Financial Services in the amount of $5,780.04.

The investigation was conducted by the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office, Fremont County Attorney’s Office, Department of Veteran Affairs-Office of Inspector General, and prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.