CEO of Free Truth Enterprises Sentenced to Prison for Tax Fraud and Mortgage Loan Fraud

CINCINNATI, OH—Regina Shields, 41, of Cincinnati, Ohio, was sentenced in US. District Court to 12 months and one day in prison and ordered to pay $202,806 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service and the lender she defrauded in a mortgage fraud scam.

Carter M. Stewart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Kathy A. Enstrom, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, Cincinnati Field Office; and Kevin R. Cornelius, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), announced the sentence handed down today by Chief U.S. District Court Judge Susan J. Dlott.

Shields pleaded guilty in June 2013 to one count of filing a false income tax return and one count of wire fraud. According to court documents, Shields formed a non-profit corporation called Free Truth Enterprises and has served as the president and CEO since 2000. From 2007 through 2010, Shields filed federal income tax returns with the IRS claiming $61,315 in false claims for income tax refunds.

“The mortgage loan offense involves a brazen scheme whereby she bid for and won a sheriff’s auction for a property that was in foreclosure,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim Mangan told the court. “She then purported to pay for the property using a check that had insufficient funds. To make matters worse, the defendant then used this temporary appearance of title to apply for a sizable loan from Quicken Loans in excess of $140,000. She then used the proceeds to purchase a luxury car.”

Shields’ sentence includes restitution to the IRS in the amount of $61,315 and restitution in the amount of $141,491 to Title Source Inc. (related to Quicken Loans).

Stewart commended the cooperative investigation by special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation and the FBI, Assistant United States Attorney Timothy Mangan who prosecuted the case.