THREE PEOPLE INDICTED ON FRAUD CHARGES IN CONNECTION WITH BOGUS “SALE” OF DORCHESTER PROPERTY

BOSTON, MA - A man and two women were charged today in federal court with Conspiracy and Identity Fraud for fraudulently obtaining mortgage financing in connection with the fictitious sale of a Dorchester residence that they did not own.

United States Attorney Michael J. Sullivan, Warren T. Bamford, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigations New England Field Division, Daniel Conley, Suffolk County District Attorney, Joanne Yarbrough, Acting Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Services, Douglas A. Bricker, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation - Boston Field Office, Steven Ricciardi, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service, Colonel Mark Delaney, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police and Edward Davis, Boston Police Commissioner, jointly announced today that ANDRE LAMERIQUE, age 25, of 288 N. Main Street in Sharon, MA, JUDY BONAS, 51, of 527 W. 157th Street in New York City, and CARMELLA LASSEGUE, 25, of 317 Wood Avenue in Hyde Park, MA, were charged in a Grand Jury Indictment with Conspiracy and two counts of Identity Fraud.

The Indictment alleges that from December 2006 until they were arrested at the Suffolk County Registry of Deeds on January 23, 2007, LAMERIQUE, BONAS and LASSEGUE attempted to obtain more than $420,000 from a mortgage company by creating a fictitious “sale” of a residence in Dorchester, MA without the owner’s knowledge. The Indictment alleges that LAMERIQUE and BONAS obtained stolen identities and created false driver’s licenses for themselves, in order to pose as the “seller” and “buyer” of the property, and thereby fraudulently obtaining mortgage financing. The scam was discovered by the Massachusetts Financial Crimes Task Force, an inter-agency group composed of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Secret Service, the Massachusetts State Police and the Boston Police Department. The defendants were arrested on January 23, 2007, at the Registry of Deeds when the closing was conducted by an undercover Massachusetts state trooper acting as the closing “attorney.”

If convicted on these charges, LAMERIQUE, BONAS and LASSEGUE each face up to 5 years imprisonment, to be followed by 2 years of supervised release, and a $ 250,000 fine on the Conspiracy count, and 15 years in prison, followed by 2 years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 on each of the Identity Fraud counts.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Internal Revenue Service, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Police Department, Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office and the Massachusetts State Police. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Victor A. Wild of Sullivan’s Economic Crimes Unit.

The details contained in the indictment are allegations. The defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.