DuPage women accused in mortgage scam

Two women, from Darien and Naperville, face charges of scamming area homeowners out of refinanced mortgage funds, authorities said Thursday.

Prosecutors said the amount stolen could be as much as $6 million.

Pamela M. Williams, 57, of Darien, is being held at the DuPage County jail in Wheaton in lieu of a $500,000 bond, sheriff's officials said.

Patricia Johnson, 56, of Naperville, was arrested Thursday and is awaiting a bond hearing.

Williams and Johnson operated PLM Title Co. in Wheaton, and they promised to lower property owners' mortgage costs, officials from State's Attorney Joe Birkett's office said. But instead of using funds from new mortgages to pay off existing loans for their clients, prosecutors allege the pair spent the money on personal items. That left many of their clients unknowingly with two mortgages, prosecutors said.

The two were indicted Tuesday, but the 55-count indictments have been sealed. Authorities said the illegal activity occurred between November 2007 and April 2008.

Birkett called the allegations “despicable. He said the victims are spread throughout northern Illinois and northwest Indiana. One victim was a disabled Vietnam War veteran who refinanced his mortgage to make modifications to his home that accommodated his special accessibility needs.

Birkett lauded Wheaton police detectives Dave Zdan and Steve Hamill for the investigation that led to the charges. He said the detectives had to examine more than 60,000 documents before the charges were lodged. Birkett said the investigators' work was thorough.

“A lot of these cases require a lot more work from us when we get them, but these two detectives did a phenomenal job, Birkett said.

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