OKLAHOMA CITY – Three Oklahoma County individuals were indicted involving home title fraud.
Laura Johnson, 44, Thomas Johnson, Sr., 51, and Cheryl Ashley, 69, all of Oklahoma City, have been indicted for conspiracy, fraud, identity theft, and other related crimes. The trio is accused of using falsified documents to obtain titles on at least 12 homes without the owners’ knowledge.
“The elaborate coordination by these defendants and lengths to which they defrauded property owners is disturbing,” Attorney General Hunter said. “They not only preyed on victims whose properties were vacant, but they also used forged eviction notices and court documents to remove people from their homes and even targeted the deceased.”
One home, of which the defendants gained possession, had been owned by a woman who died in 2012. Once they occupied the property, the defendants used records found in the home to abscond with $63,950 from the deceased’s bank accounts and $45,000 from her oil and gas interests.
Home title fraud typically occurs when someone steals an individual’s identity, forges the individual’s name on a deed and takes the title to the individual’s home. Abandoned, rarely used or unoccupied homes are the primary targets of deed fraud. However, occupied homes can also be targeted.
Some homeowners claimed to have vacated their homes based on phony eviction notices posted as part of the conspiracy, court records show. When certain victims fought the takeover of their homes in court, the defendants filed pleadings and submitted affidavits signed by attorneys who do not exist.
Another method the defendants used to obtain home titles was targeting properties with delinquent property taxes that were subject to auction by the Oklahoma County Treasurer’s Office.
If convicted, the defendants face fines and prison time.