Last Updated: July 08. 2011 12:52PM

http://www.detnews.com/article/20110708/METRO/107080415/1361/Feds--Scam-used-phony-mortgages-to-fund-drug-trafficking

Detroit— Federal prosecutors unsealed a 10-count indictment today charging six Metro Detroit residents with an alleged scam to funnel profits from fraudulent mortgages into a drug-trafficking enterprise.

The grand jury indictment accuses Inkster resident Linda Abdullah of orchestrating a scheme to defraud lenders by acting as a mortgage broker from August 2006 through February 2009. Abdullah, 40, arranged six mortgage loans to buy properties for straw buyers who falsified income and other information, prosecutors said.

The loans helped fuel a drug-trafficking enterprise that shipped marijuana from Arizona to Metro Detroit from June 2008 to August 2009, prosecutors said. There were at least 60 shipments, each weighing 10-20 pounds, mailed using falsified business names and return addresses that hid the true identities of the sender and receiver, according to the indictment.

The enterprise generated more than $400,000, which was deposited in Detroit-area banks. The cash was withdrawn at bank branches in Phoenix to buy marijuana, prosecutors said.

Each deposit and withdrawal totaled less than $10,000 to hide the transactions from the IRS, according to prosecutors.

"The greed that motivated these folks, ultimately led to their arrests," said DEA Special Agent in Charge Robert Corso.

Abdullah also is accused of helping torch a rental home on Sussex in Detroit in March 2007.

The six people named in the indictment and the charges against them are:

Abdullah, aka Linda Holt: bank fraud, wire fraud, arson, conspiracy to distribute marijuana and money laundering conspiracy.

Eric Waldon, 46, of Detroit: wire fraud.

Rolando Hampton, 29, of Inkster: conspiracy to distribute marijuana and money laundering conspiracy.

Felicia Hairston, 45, of Detroit: conspiracy to distribute marijuana and money laundering conspiracy.

Jacqueline Holt, aka Jacqueline Jones, 47, of Romulus: conspiracy to distribute marijuana and money laundering conspiracy.

Andrew Holt, 73, of Detroit: conspiracy to distribute marijuana and money laundering conspiracy.

The drug conspiracy charge, punishable by up to 40 years in prison and a $2 million fine, is the most severe count issued in this case.

Most of the defendants will make initial appearances today in U.S. District Court in Detroit.

The investigation lasted two years and involved several agencies, including the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Michigan State Police, U.S. Secret Service and Grosse Ile Police.