A Kansas City couple has been charged with wire fraud and money laundering in connection with a $475,200 home loan application, said Bradley J. Schlozman, United States attorney for the Western District of Missouri.
An indictment handed down by a federal grand jury Wednesday alleges that Ida Mathis, 52, and Larry D. Wills, 50, defrauded New Century Mortgage by submitting false documents, Schlozman said.
Mathis allegedly submitted a fraudulent W-2 form, pay stubs and income tax return to back up her claim of a $116,000-a-year job with WB Enterprises — of which Wills was the sole owner and employee.
According to the indictment, Mathis included in her loan application a letter from an accountant and a verification form signed by Mathis claiming she had been making substantial monthly payments on the home securing the loan.
The two-count indictment alleges that Mathis and Wills persuaded New City Mortgage to wire $478,383 to a Chicago Title Insurance Co. bank account in Kansas City on Aug. 14, 2001. A week later, Mathis and Wills allegedly had $352,000 of that sum transferred to a Countrywide Home Loans bank account in Los Angeles.
This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David M. Ketchmark.
