Arrests made in mortgage loan scam

By Mary Manning (contact)

Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2008 | 1:25 p.m.

Two Proserve Mortgage Company employees have been arrested and a third remains at large in what Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto said was an alleged scheme to file a loan against a senior citizen's wishes.

Roxanne Lynette McCoy and Shanease Renee Bauman, both employees of Proserve Mortgage, were arrested today, Masto said. A third suspect, Laticia Renee Carter, also a Proserve Mortgage employee, has not been arrested.

The state alleges that the defendants forged 69-year-old Jeri Cooper's signature on several loan application documents and submitted the loan for funding to the lender in order to collect a commission on the loan, even though Cooper said that she could not afford the loan and did not want to complete the application process.

Cooper said she could not afford the monthly payments after learning of the payment terms. The state alleges that, as a result, the elderly victim is being held responsible for payment of the loan and now faces possible foreclosure.

"Mortgage related crimes affect everyone in the community and we intend to prosecute these aggressively," Masto said. "In this particular case, the victim is a senior citizen. Protecting Nevada's seniors is a priority for my administration."

Carter, McCoy and Bauman are each charged with several felonies, including one count of forgery, one count of obtaining a signature by false pretenses, one count of theft and one count of mortgage lending fraud.

The initial appearance in Justice Court for Bauman and McCoy is set for 7:45 a.m. Dec. 3 in Las Vegas Justice Court Department 10.

The defendants are presumed innocent until or unless proven otherwise in court.

The case was filed by prosecutors assigned to the Attorney General's Mortgage Fraud Task Force, created by Masto in early 2008 to address mortgage fraud scams throughout Nevada.

The task force combines the resources of several of the attorney general's bureaus, including the Bureau of Criminal Justice and the Bureau of Consumer Protection. It also works closely with other state agencies, including the Mortgage Lending Division to investigate and prosecute mortgage fraud crimes in Nevada.

Consumers who wish to report mortgage fraud are asked to contact the Bureau of Consumer Protection at 486-3194 to obtain a complaint form.

Consumers with Internet access may obtain the form at the Web site: www.ag.state.nv.us.