Suspects in mortgage fraud fight to bond out

While one of the two DuPage County women accused in a massive mortgage fraud case is seeking to have her bond lowered, prosecutors are trying to make sure the other isn't trying to make bail with ill-gotten cash.

DuPage Prosecutor Diane Michalak stalled 56-year-old Patricia Johnson's attempt to post bail Tuesday by requesting a special hearing, set for Wednesday, to prove the money being used isn't from her alleged illegal activity.

Johnson, a Naperville resident, and Pamela Williams, 57, of Darien, are accused of running a title company that scammed area homeowners out of refinanced mortgage funds to the tune of $6 million.

Michalak said the pair are accused of swindling some 26 different property owners from throughout northern Illinois and parts of Indiana out of refinanced mortgage funds and using the money on personal items. The amounts were as little at $6,600 and as much as $400,000, she said. The fraud left many property owners with two mortgages, she said.

Both women are being held on $500,000 bonds. They have to post 10 percent $50,000 in order to be set free. Johnson's lawyer, Mark Kowalczyk, said his client's current boss' fiance presented a cashier's check for Johnson's bail, but was rejected. Kowalczyk said Johnson is working for a doctor.

Michalak said there's no proof the money didn't come from Johnson. Kowalczyk said the fiance provided an affidavit stating the money didn't come from Johnson. He wasn't expected in court Wednesday because he is in Brazil, Kowalczyk said.

Meanwhile, Williams was also in court Tuesday seeking to have her bond amount reduced. She told Judge John Kinsella she can't come up with $50,000. The probation department is expected to perform a pretrial screening to determine if she qualifies for bail reduction or other programs that allow non-flight risks to be released from jail while awaiting trial.

Kinsella scheduled a hearing for Nov. 1 to determine if Williams qualifies.