A Detroit woman has been charged in a federal criminal complaint for allegedly running a scheme that stole houses from dozens of Detroiters, officials said.
Zina Thomas, 60, was arrested on Wednesday and is accused of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, money laundering and aggravated identity theft, U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison said.
Authorities filed a federal criminal complaint against her last Thursday, according to court records.
The scheme targeted low-income individuals who were facing potential tax foreclosure, the complaint said. It also alleges that Thomas is currently living in one of the homes involved in the scheme.
Federal officials allege Thomas conspired with others to steal more than 30 properties across Wayne County when she served as director of homeownership programs for the United Community Housing Coalition, a Detroit nonprofit that helps low-income residents stay in their homes with eviction defense and legal services, programs for avoiding foreclosure, housing placement and tenant organizing.
According to the coalition’s website, Thomas has more than 25 years of housing experience as a real estate agent, housing inspector, and mortgage broker. She joined the nonprofit in 2021 as a tax foreclosure prevention counselor, the site said.
“Zina is dedicated to helping others, and her family has always been active in fighting for the rights of others,” according to her biography on the site.
Ted Phillips, the United Community Housing Coalition’s director, issued a statement Wednesday about the charges against Thomas.
“While it’s deeply troubling that these individuals are alleged to have misused our company emails and computers, the charges confirm that the integrity of UCHC’s programs are not being called into question,” he said. “We take this matter very seriously. The individuals identified in the complaint have been suspended, we are cooperating fully with the investigation, and we are also conducting an internal review. Meanwhile, the United CommunityHousing Coalition will continue its unwavering advocacy work for Detroiters as it has done for the last 50 years.”
In the criminal complaint, federal officials said Thomas and others filed multiple fraudulent quitclaim deeds, frequently transferring the target properties from the victims to non-existent “interim owners” before ultimately selling the properties to unwitting third parties.
Officials said Thomas or another person falsely notarized the fraudulent deeds, which made them appear legitimate and enabled them to be filed with the county’s Register of Deeds.
Furthermore, Thomas allegedly emailed an employee of the Wayne County Treasurer’s Office fake driver’s licenses and other documents to halt pending foreclosures, authorities said.
The complaint said Thomas received payment for at least some of the properties via wire transfer into abank account in the name of her realty company.
She allegedly transferred proceeds from the company’s account to her personal bank account.
“This scheme targeted some of our most financially vulnerable citizens and was perpetrated by an individual whose job it was to help those very people avoid losing their homes to foreclosure,” Ison said in a statement. “This arrest is the result of a multi-agency, cooperative investigation involving both federal and state law enforcement, and is reflective of our ongoing efforts to identify and disrupt fraud schemes like this as quickly as possible.”
cramirez@detroitnews.com
X: @CharlesERamirez
Read More: Feds charge Detroit woman in scheme to steal homes from owners