An ex-director for a homeownership nonprofit and a former official in Michigan’s Wayne County who hatched a scheme to steal residential properties facing tax foreclosure were sentenced to prison.
According to the court records, Zina Thomas, formerly employed as the director of homeownership programs for the United Community Housing Coalition, a Detroit nonprofit, conspired with and paid bribes to Jontae Jackson, formerly employed as a taxpayer assistant with the Wayne County Treasurer’s Office, in order to steal approximately 100 properties across Wayne County. The properties, which were predominately located in Detroit, had a total estimated value of approximately $6.4 million
The scheme involved Thomas identifying properties that faced potential tax foreclosure and then diverting those properties into her control through fraudulent quitclaim deeds. Multiple fraudulent deeds were involved, frequently transferring the target properties from the victim-owners to non-existent “interim owners” in the first instance.
Thomas, who was also a real estate agent, then sold many of the properties to third parties. In order to conceal the scheme and free up the properties for sale, Thomas bribed Jackson to upload false documentation—including fake driver’s licenses, utility bills, and Principal Residence Exemption forms—into Wayne County’s Property Tax Administration system, which Jackson then used to halt the pending foreclosures.
By preventing the properties from being auctioned off, the duo defrauded Wayne County of an estimated $1.5 million in tax revenue.
Thomas received 90 months in federal prison following a conviction for federal program bribery. Jackson was sentenced to 66 months in federal prison for convictions for conspiracy to commit bribery and aggravated identity theft.
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