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BUFFALO, N.Y. — New York State Attorney General Letitia James is the subject of a criminal referral, filed by a federal agency that oversees housing loans, and now faces potential criminal prosecution over alleged mortgage fraud.
At this point, James has not been charged with anything. RELATED: Ruling made in New York's lawsuit against Live Nation and Ticketmaster The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) sent a letter to the Department of Justice asking it to look into its claims that James falsified documents and records to obtain favorable mortgage terms on as many three occasions, dating back over 40 years with the earliest being in 1983. That's when it alleges James and her father signed documents stating that they were married, in order to secure a mortgage.
In 2001, FHFA claims James falsely described a property she bought in Brooklyn to meet requirements for government-backed loans. Then, in 2023, FHFA claims that James bought a home in Virginia and stated that it would be her primary residence, rather than her second home, in order to get a lower loan rate, even though as the state's Attorney General James would be required to live primarily in New York. The Virginia home was purchased just months prior to James bringing a civil suit against Donald Trump for fraud, including allegations he inflated the value of properties he owned to get more favorable loans, in a case which resulted in a nearly half billion dollar civil penalty against the President.
A referral "The referral is not a charge," noted Dennis Vacco, who previously served both as the New York State Attorney General and the U.S. Attorney for Western New York.
"The referral is just simply a request to the Department of Justice to conduct further inquiry. And I don't think that we should jump to conclusions here. Just because there's a referral that does not necessarily mean there will be an eventual indictment.
But what it does mean is that the Department of Justice will now conduct a thorough review of the of the information, including the documents, and make a determination as to whether or not a case should be pursued." Vacco notes however, that referrals, while common, generally aren't made public prior to the Department of Justice deciding whether to take up a case. And even if it does, referrals aren't usually disclosed until such time as the investigation results in charges.
"It's somewhat unusual that the referral has been made public, because now the media and the public understand that there's the commencement of an investigation," Vacco said. No love lost In a statement to 2 On Your Side, a spokesperson for James wrote: “Attorney General James is focused every single day on protecting New Yorkers, especially as this Administration weaponizes the federal government against the rule of law and the Constitution. She will not be intimidated by bullies – no matter who they are.
” Weaponizing the government, however, is what Trump accused James of doing after she campaigned on a platform of "getting" Donald Trump in 2018, when Mr. Trump was serving his first term in office..
