OAN Staff Brooke Mallory
3:17 PM – Thursday, October 9, 2025
New York Attorney General Letitia James was indicted on Thursday by a federal grand jury in Virginia on a single count of mortgage fraud.
The charge stems from allegations that James misrepresented her primary residence status on mortgage documents for a property she purchased in Norfolk, Virginia, in 2023.
The investigation was reportedly initiated following a referral from Bill Pulte, head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, who stated that James falsified information to secure more favorable mortgage terms.
Prosecutors argue that she inaccurately claimed the Norfolk property as her primary residence, which allegedly affected the loan rate she received. Prosecutors are also scrutinizing her Brooklyn brownstone and how she represented her relationship to her father on official documents.
According to sources, the allegations maintain that she allegedly mischaracterized the occupancy status of her Brooklyn residence — potentially claiming it as a secondary property rather than a primary residence, or vice versa — on financial paperwork.
Additionally, the documents reportedly contained information about her familial ties, specifically her relationship to her father, which could influence eligibility or terms for certain loans or mortgages.
In mortgage applications, lenders often request information about family connections for purposes such as verifying residency, co-signing, or assessing financial background. Misrepresenting these details could be considered a material falsehood under federal law — forming the basis for the “making false statements to a financial institution” portion of the indictment.
James has publicly denied all allegations, describing them as “baseless” and politically motivated. Her legal team argues that any discrepancies were inadvertent and “corrected promptly,” claiming that there was no intent to defraud lenders.
The prosecution in James’ case is being handled by Lindsey Halligan, a former Trump lawyer now serving as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Each of the charges James faces carries a potential sentence of up to 30 years in prison. However, legal experts have noted that that proving intent to defraud remains a high hurdle for federal prosecutors.
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