Lawyer, Ex-Mortgage Broker Husband Charged in Alleged $8.8M Mortgage Fraud Racketeering Conspiracy

A Tampa., Fla., lawyer and her husband, who is a former mortgage broker, are being held in lieu of $700,000 bail in the Hillsborough County jail after being arrested earlier this week in an alleged $8.8 million mortgage fraud conspiracy in which other defendants also have been charged.

Stephanie Bolton and her husband, William, are charged with conspiracy to commit racketeering, racketeering and grand theft, the St. Petersburg Times reported.

Admitted to practice in 2004 after her graduation from Stetson University College of Law, Stephanie Bolton worked in the construction litigation department of Carlton Fields from 2006 to 2010.

The article doesn't include any comment from the couple or their legal counsel or explain what, specifically, they are accused of doing. Authorities say the group of defendants involved in the alleged scheme falsified documents between 2003 and 2007 in order to obtain 50 mortgages worth some $8.8 million. A number of the mortgaged properties have since been foreclosed upon.