“Short Sale Queen” indicted in mortgage fraud scheme (Creative Financing Gone Bad)

[Ken M.]

Self-proclaimed “Short Sale Queen” and associates indicted in federal mortgage fraud scheme

Tuesday, December 3, 2024

For Immediate ReleaseU.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Texas

PLANO, Texas – Three Texas women have been charged with federal violations related to a mortgage fraud scheme in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney Damien M. Diggs.

Nicole Espinosa, also known as Short Sale Queen, 35, of Plano; Stephanie Smith, also known as Stephanie Parks, 44, of Midlothian; and Selena Baltazar-Hill, 28, of Dallas, were indicted by a federal grand jury on November 20, 2024, and charged with federal violations related to a mortgage fraud scheme in the Eastern District of Texas. The two-count indictment charges them with conspiracy to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution and conspiracy to submit false statements to a federally insured financial institution. The defendants have been arrested and are scheduled to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Aileen Goldman Durrett on December 4, 2024.

According to information presented in court, beginning in 2017, Espinosa, Smith, and Baltazar, along with others, are alleged to have operated a mortgage fraud scheme using various companies, including Short Sale Queen, L.L.C. The defendants researched and located properties that were in the pre-foreclosure short sale process more:

https://www.justice.gov/usao-edtx/pr/self-proclaimed-short-s...

18 U.S.C. § 1344 – Bank Fraud

18 U.S.C. Section 1014 criminalizes the act of making false statements to a financial institution. If convicted of bank fraud you may be facing large fines of up to $1,000,000 and/or imprisonment of up to thirty years.

Posted without comment.

Okay, so one comment:

Just because someone in your community says it's okay to do, better clear it with the feds first, or you may be talking with them later.