A Hendry County loan broker has been arrested for her role in an alleged fraudulent advance fee for loan scheme connected to a Fort Myers brokerage office — her second loan scam arrest in the past decade.
The broker, Sammie Sue Doss, has been charged with grand theft, fraudulent use of personal identifying information and violating Florida’s loan broker laws. Victim losses are estimated to be more than $17,000, according to a statement from the Florida Office of Financial Regulation. The OFR investigated the case, and the Hendry County Sheriff’s Office executed the arrest warrant, the statement adds.
Doss allegedly assessed and collected advance fees based on promises of securing mortgage loans. The loans never materialized, authorities contend in the release, “and some victims claim Doss further pressured them to make additional payments.”
Doss, using the alias “Sammie Trevino,” was also a named respondent in an OFR examination of a licensed mortgage broker business operating as AA Signature Mortgage Inc. in Fort Myers, officials say. The OFR terminated AA Signature Mortgage Inc.’s license as a result of the examination.
In 2011, as a result of an OFR and Collier County Sheriff’s Office investigation, Doss pled no contest to a third-degree felony charge for a similar advance fee for loan scheme. She was sentenced to a year of probation and ordered to pay restitution and fee, the release states.
“Fraud can ruin lives and…
