SHERMAN, TX—A 53-year-old Aledo, Texas woman has been sentenced to federal prison for her role in a mortgage fraud scheme in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney John M. Bales today.

Donna Shirley Cobb pleaded guilty on October 16, 2013 to conspiracy to defraud the United States and was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison today by U.S. District Judge Thad Heartfield. Cobb was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $2,151,376.

According to information presented in court, from 2005 to 2008, Cobb, an escrow officer with Title Texas Inc., was involved in a conspiracy to defraud lending institutions by providing fraudulent documents and causing residential loans to be provided based on the fraudulent information. One such property was located on Carlton Court in McKinney, Texas. A total of 28 properties located in Cedar Hill, Cresson, Dallas, Euless, Fairview, Fort Worth, Frisco, Heath, Hurst, McKinney, Murphy, Plano, Prosper, and Watauga, Texas, were involved in the scheme.

This law enforcement action is part of President Barack Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force.

President Obama established the interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force to wage an aggressive, coordinated, and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. The task force includes representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general, and state and local law enforcement who, working together, bring to bear a powerful array of criminal and civil enforcement resources. The task force is working to improve efforts across the federal executive branch and, with state and local partners, to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes, ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets, and recover proceeds for victims of financial crimes.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Housing Finance Agency-Office of Inspector General. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher A. Eason and J. Andrew Williams.