New York state Attorney General Letitia James was indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury in Virginia on charges of bank fraud and making false claims to a financial institution that netted her nearly $19,000 in savings on a loan for a second home, according to the Department of Justice.
The indictment was handed up in the Eastern District of Virginia, where former FBI Director James Comey was indicted Sept. 25 on charges of lying to Congress and obstruction of justice
“No one is above the law. The charges as alleged in this case represent intentional, criminal acts and tremendous breaches of the public’s trust,” US Attorney Lindsey Halligan said in a statement. “The facts and the law in this case are clear, and we will continue following them to ensure that justice is served.”
James responded in a statement: “This is nothing more than a continuation of the president’s desperate weaponization of our justice system. He is forcing federal law enforcement agencies to do his bidding, all because I did my job as the New York State Attorney General.”
“These charges are baseless, and the president’s own public statements make clear that his only goal is political retribution at any cost,” she added. “The president’s actions are a grave violation of our Constitutional order and have drawn sharp criticism from members of both parties.”
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If convicted on both counts, James faces up to 60 years in prison and a fine of up to $2 million.
James, 66, bought the three-bedroom, one-bathroom Norfolk, Va., home in August 2020 for roughly $137,000, most of which was financed with a $109,600 loan that prohibited it from being used as a rental investment property, prosecutors alleged.
That allowed her “to obtain favorable loan terms not available for investment properties,” they noted in the five-page filing, saving her “approximately $18,933 over the life of the loan.”
When a Post reporter visited the Norfolk home in April, neighbors said they had never seen James at the property.
Meanwhile, her income tax forms designated the home as a rental that brought in thousands of dollars in additional income.
Norfolk property records reviewed earlier this year by The Post show James granted power of attorney to her niece, Shamice Thompson-Hairston, on Aug. 17, 2023, authorizing the purchase of the Virginia property — for which they secured a $219,780 mortgage.
Thursday’s indictment puts the timeline of the alleged bank fraud scheme from August 2020 to January 2024 “for the purpose of influencing the action of OVM Financial, a Fannie Mae-backed lender, upon an application for a loan.”
James “represented and affirmed in uniform residential loan applications and related documents that the Peronne Property would be used as a secondary residence, when in truth and fact, as [James] then knew, the property was intended and used as an investment property with no intended or actual personal occupancy or use by her,” the indictment alleged.
Federal housing regulator Bill Pulte referred James to the Justice Department in April, suggesting that she had committed crimes including wire fraud, mail fraud, bank fraud and false statements to a financial institution.
James, 66, had previously called the allegations by Pulte “baseless.”
“What we’re seeing today is nothing less than the weaponization of the Justice Department to punish those who hold the powerful accountable,” Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement.
James won a civil judgment against the Trump Organization last year for allegedly inflating the value of his real estate empire. The president was ordered to pay $355 million in penalties but successfully appealed in August to have the fine thrown out.
James’ office has appealed for reinstatement of the judgement, which had grown to more than $500 million with interest.
“I stand strongly behind my office’s litigation against the Trump Organization,” James added in her Thursday statement. “Judges have upheld the trial court’s finding that Donald Trump, his company, and his two sons are liable for fraud.”
“I am a proud woman of faith, and I know that faith and fear cannot share the same space,” she added. “And so today I am not fearful, I am fearless, and as my faith teaches me, no weapon formed against me shall prosper. We will fight these baseless charges aggressively, and my office will continue to fiercely protect New Yorkers and their rights. And I will continue to do my job.”
FBI investigators began the criminal probe in May after Pulte’s referral, which also contained allegations of James misclassifying her Brooklyn brownstone as having four units instead of five.
That could have given her more favorable loan terms on both the New York and Virginia properties, according to Pulte.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency head has also made similar accusations of mortgage fraud against Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) for improperly claiming a home in Maryland was his primary residence.
