Maryland woman sentenced in mortgage fraud; ordered to pay $16 million in restitution

Maryland woman sentenced in mortgage fraud

GREENBELT, Md. — Federal prosecutors say a woman has been sentenced to more than 12 years in prison for her role in a mortgage fraud scheme.

Forty-one-year-old Joy Jackson of Fort Washington was also ordered at sentencing on Monday to pay more than $16 million in restitution and to forfeit homes and cars.

Prosecutors say Jackson oversaw the Lanham-based Metropolitan Money Store, which cheated lenders and homeowners facing foreclosure.

The scheme took advantage of homeowners and lenders by using straw buyers, fraudulently obtained loans and inflated real estate appraisals to strip equity from more than 100 homes from 2004 to 2007.