Fayetteville woman pleads guilty mortgage fraud scheme

Raleigh, N.C. — A Fayetteville woman pleaded guilty Monday to participating in a mortgage fraud scheme, authorities said.

Terri J. Hart, 46, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. She will be sentenced later.

Between October 2003 and July 2005, Hart and three others, working as Carriage Crossings Inc. and ABC Trading Inc., conspired to obtain financing for people buying mobile homes and lots who normally wouldn't qualify for financing, authorities said. The scheme involved inflating property values and lying to banks about down payments that had never been made, authorities said.

The wire fraud occurred when the false information was faxed to mortgage brokers, bankers and closing attorneys.

Another defendant, Walter Thacker Jr., 68, of Fayetteville, was sentenced to 90 days of house arrest and a $6,000 fine. Sentencing for two other defendants, April Hall, 45, of Fayetteville, and Shiquandra Ann Brooks, 35, of Hope Mills, is scheduled for later this spring.