According to Nelson’s plea agreement, beginning in 2005, co-conspirators targeted homeowners and home purchasers to participate in a purported mortgage payment program called the “Dream Homes Program.” In exchange for a minimum of $50,000 initial investment and an “administrative fee” of up to $5,000, conspirators promised to make the homeowners’ future monthly mortgage payments and pay off the homeowner’s mortgage within five to seven years. Dream Homes Program representatives explained to investors that the homeowners’ initial investments would be used to fund investments in automated teller machines (ATMs), flat screen televisions that would show paid business advertisements, and electronic kiosks that sold goods and services. To give investors the impression that the Dream Homes Program was very successful, Metro Dream Homes spent hundreds of thousands of dollars making presentations at luxury hotels such as the Washington Plaza Hotel in Washington, D.C.; the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York, New York; and the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California.
In February 2006, the Dream Homes Program added a second program called “POS Dream Homes” that offered similar promises of paying off investor mortgages in five to seven years in exchange for an up-front investment of $50,000 or more. Collectively, these programs had offices in Maryland, the District of Columbia, Virginia, North Carolina, New York, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, and California.
Nelson was hired in December 2006 at an annual salary of $200,000 to get investor contracts in order, including the creation of investor files. In March 2007, Nelson was named the chief financial officer of POS Dream Homes. At no time did Nelson see any evidence of revenue being generated from investments in ATMs and electronic billboards to pay off the investors’ mortgages.
Nelson profited significantly during her time with Metro Dream Homes. For example, in May 2007, to document that she had a certain amount of assets in order to qualify for a home mortgage, Nelson and another conspirator agreed that Nelson would obtain a check from the company for $75,000 marked as an annual bonus. Nelson wrote herself a $75,000 check, drawn on the POS bank account, and deposited the check into her personal account. In fact, Nelson was not entitled to any bonus. In May 2007, a related Metro Dream Homes company allocated $150,000 to Nelson and her spouse to open “Ambassador Dream Homes,” which was supposed to be an affiliate of Metro Dream Homes. Ambassador Dream Homes did not commence operations prior to it being assumed by the receiver appointed by the Maryland state courts.
…As a result of the scheme, more than 1,000 investors in the Dream Homes Program invested approximately $78 million. When Nelson’s co-conspirators stopped making the mortgage payments, the homeowners were left to attempt to make the mortgage payments that MDH had promised to make in full.
FBI Press release link: here