Title: FBI — Charlotte Attorney Victoria Sprouse Convicted by Federal Jury
Headings: Charlotte Attorney Victoria Sprouse Convicted by Federal Jury
Jury Convinced Regarding Attorney’s Role in Mortgage Fraud Schemes

Charlotte Attorney Victoria Sprouse Convicted by Federal Jury
Jury Convinced Regarding Attorney’s Role in Mortgage Fraud Schemes
Content: Inspector In Charge of U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Keith Fixel; Special Agent in Charge of IRS—Criminal Investigations Division, Jeannine Hammett, and North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin. A federal indictment charging Victoria L. Sprouse, along with five other individuals was filed in March 2008 in U.S. District Court. To date all six of those defendants have been either convicted at trial or have entered pleas of guilty. The charges represent the results of a local investigation which stemmed from the detection of an original mortgage fraud scheme in September 2002, and focused on a group operating in and around the Charlotte area. The indictment alleged, and the evidence presented at the trial of Victoria L. Sprouse, showed that all the defendants participated in a series of mortgage fraud schemes involving more than $20 million in mortgage loans and hundreds of houses in Charlotte—area neighborhoods. The defendants included Sprouse who served as the attorney, a real estate appraiser, two mortgage brokers, and two realtors. The indictment also identified two other attorneys, three home builders (including one national homebuilder), and several real estate investors as co—conspirators in these schemes. One of the banks victimized by the schemes closed its doors in mid—2007 after 103 years of business. The indictment alleged, and the evidence presented at this week’s criminal trial of Charlotte attorney Victoria L. Sprouse showed, that Sprouse participated in three separate mortgage fraud schemes where houses were purchased through fraudulent mortgage applications and use of other false documents.