Orange County Woman Defrauds Lenders of Millions

You can’t steal this much money and be stupid, can you? Apparently, Kathy Chen thought so. Now, not so much. Chen was arrested recently for buying 35 properties using stolen names or likely paying people to use their identity to get loans.

The total amount of fraud? 17.5 million dollars. She had help. Two others, believed to be in Mexico, helped her steal the money. This kind of fraud has become rampant, especially during the credit boom earlier in the decade. Lenders didn’t look too hard at borrowers, instead relying on rising home values to protect them in case of default.

Chen, 49, of Westminster, California, is facing over 100 years in prison on these charges. Most thieves don’t save their money. White collar fraud cases can resolve well if the defendants can pay back the money, but if not, the state prison system awaits.

White Collar fraud takes many forms. Mortgage fraud is one version, and requires a lot of effort to accomplish. Whether or not Chen intended to service these loans will be an issue, in terms of degree of culpability. In any event, she will need an experienced White Collar defense attorney to assist her.

If you would like to learn more about White Collar fraud criminal defense, call Orange County criminal defense attorney William Weinberg in his Irvine office to discuss it at 949.474.8008.