Randolph Woman Sentenced in Mortgage Fraud Scheme

BOSTON—A former Bank of America employee was sentenced yesterday in federal court for creating false documents to support fraudulent mortgage loan applications.

CLARISTA BRAMBLE, 59, of Randolph, was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Judge Joseph L. Tauro to three years of probation, with the first six months in home confinement on electronic monitoring. BRAMBLE was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $311,000 to three mortgage lenders. BRAMBLE pleaded guilty to nine counts of wire fraud on December 9, 2010.

At the plea hearing, the prosecutor told the court that had the case proceeded to trial, the government’s evidence would have proven that during the time BRAMBLE was a bank employee from December 2006 to July 2007, she created false bank documents reporting fictitious balances for accounts in the names of people applying for loans from mortgage lending companies. BRAMBLE received cash payments and other financial benefits from others engaged in the scheme, knowing the false documents would be used to fraudulently secure mortgage loans.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation - Boston Field Division; and William Offord, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston, made the announcement today. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service, with the assistance of Bank of America. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Victor A. Wild and Ryan M. DiSantis of Ortiz’s Economic Crimes Unit.