Mountaineer Title Agency in Cleveland.

Auroraadvocate.com - Auroran among 3 people indicted in fraud scheme

An Aurora man is one of three people indicted last week by a federal grand jury in Cleveland for allegedly operating a $1.5 million mortgage fraud scheme involving 17 properties in Northeast Ohio.

John McClain, 48, of Aurora; Deborah Wilson, 58, of Cleveland; and Regina Smith, 30, of Atlanta were named in indictments for conspiracy and mail fraud.

Attorneys for the defendants were not listed on the indictment and could not be contacted for comment.

The indictment says McClain was a loan officer and Smith was a loan processor for the Jones Group in Cleveland, while Wilson was a title agent and owner of Mountaineer Title Agency in Cleveland.

A dozen properties were located in Cleveland, and others were in Warrensville Heights, Maple Heights, Garfield Heights, South Euclid and Euclid.

According to the indictments, McClain conspired with Wilson and Smith to fraudulently obtain money from several mortgage lenders by submitting loan applications with false information.

It further states, the various lenders suffered losses ranging from $52,833 to $143,000 on the properties. The transactions occurred between September 2005 and June 2006.

In another recent case involving mortgage fraud, two Cleveland area men were found guilty of conspiracy in a scheme involving 453 homes and $44 million in fraudulent loans.