5 indicted in $17 million mortgage fraud scheme

The 12-count indictment alleges Anthony Wayne Hawkins, 48, Brandon Alonzo Crenshaw, 27, Nehemiah Jamal Douglas, 28, Babette Jammer, 47, and David Vasser, 59, got more than $17 million in loans through a mail and wire fraud conspiracy.

Online court records did not indicate whether any of the defendants had an attorney.

The indictment alleges the defendants recruited people to buy residential properties using falsified documents to support loan applications and defraud mortgage lenders, U.S. Attorney Don DeGabrielle said in a news release.

"Those who seek to take advantage of the American Dream of home ownership and those who prey upon others in these dire economic times will most certainly be held accountable," DeGabrielle said.

The criminal charges were the result of a joint investigation by the FBI and Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations Division.

"These types of crimes drive buyers into foreclosure, leave lenders burdened with bad loans and neighborhoods with abandoned and deteriorating properties," Rodney E. Clarke, special agent in charge of the Houston office of the IRS criminal investigations division, said in the release.

The five appeared before a federal magistrate Thursday.

If convicted, each of the five faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and the wire fraud charges.

Hawkins, Crenshaw, Douglas and Vasser are also charged with opening bank accounts in business names to deposit and transfer the loan proceeds. Those charges carry a maximun penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.