Former Johnston Woman Pleads Guilty to $1.7 Million Mortgage Fraud Scheme

Lisa Torres, 40, formerly of Johnston, pleaded guilty today to a $1.7 million mortgage fraud scheme in which she purchased properties that had recently been foreclosed upon, and then used the names of straw purchasers in sham sales to finagle mortgage financing. Torres used a variety of ruses to enlist the aid of the sham purchasers, suggesting to them that they were not really buying the properties and that Torres would actually service the mortgages. However, Torres failed to service the mortgages and in the process defrauded the lending institutions out of approximately $675,000. Posted in: Internal Fraud