FEDERAL

foreclosed properties. Spiridon failed to deliver the
properties to the investors and admitted she had no
connection with the properties. Since 2011, Spiridon
received over $4 million from her scheme and caused
losses of over $2.4 million.
This was a joint investigation with the FBI and
USPIS.
Distressed Homeowners Targeted, Alameda
County, California
On September 24, 2013, in Alameda County
Superior Court, California, Karl Robinson, Michael
Bachmeier, Thomas Powell, Yamen Elasadi, and Jahi
Kokayi were charged with conspiracy to offer a false
or forged instrument.
The complaint alleges that between 2008 and 2010,
the conspirators received over $5 million from
victims who were promised delayed foreclosures and
evictions in exchange for upfront cash payments and
monthly fees. The conspirators accomplished the
delays by recording backdated and forged deeds of
trust, filing false bankruptcies, and forging clients’
signatures on deeds of trust.
This was a joint investigation with the Alameda
County District Attorney’s Office, U.S. Office of
Trustees, Riverside County Sheriff’s Department,
Orange County Sheriff’s Department, Newport
Beach Police Department, Los Angeles County
Sheriff’s Department, U.S. Attorney’s Office,
and the FBI.
Four Employees of Mortgage Modification Mill
Plead Guilty, Sacramento, California
On June 24, 2013, Jesse Wheeler and Brent Medearis
pled guilty to bankruptcy fraud. On July 8, 2013,
Jewel Hinkles (also known as Cydney Sanchez)
pled guilty to bankruptcy fraud. On July 15, 2013,
Cynthia Corn pled guilty to misprision of a felony.
The pleas occurred in the U.S. District Court for the
Eastern District of California.
Wheeler, Medearis, Hinkles, and Corn, employees
of Horizon Property Holdings, conspired to defraud
distressed homeowners out of fees to accomplish
mortgage modifications. From 2008 through at least
February 2010, Horizon received some $5 million in
fees from more than 1,000 homeowners who were
facing foreclosure in exchange for false promises that
it would help them modify their mortgages. The
conspirators told homeowners that for a substantial
upfront payment and a monthly fee they would
save the homeowners’ residences from foreclosure.
However, the conspirators failed to arrange the
modifications.
This was a joint investigation with USPIS, the FBI,
and the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office.
Lease Back Fraud Scheme, St. Louis, Missouri
On April 18, 2013, Jay Dunlap was convicted of
wire, bank, and mail fraud in the U.S. District
Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. On
July 31, 2013, he was sentenced to 60 months of
incarceration, $346,000 in restitution, and 5 years of
supervised release.
Dunlap defrauded homeowners by operating a
mortgage rescue scheme in 2006. The scheme—
which used a Dunlap employee as a straw buyer—
involved buying and financing a property owned by
homeowners who were delinquent on their mortgage.
The homeowners then rented the property back
for a year, with the option to purchase it thereafter.
After the year had ended, Dunlap conducted a fake
closing to cause the homeowners to believe that they
had purchased the property. Dunlap made mortgage
payments during the first year, but the payments
stopped following the fraudulent closing. Fannie Mae
owned or guaranteed the mortgage.
30 Federal Housing Finance Agency Office of Inspector General