A Metairie contractor whose business practices were exposed more than two years ago in a WWL Louisiana investigation has now pleaded guilty in federal court to a wide-ranging home-improvement loan fraud scheme that victimized New Orleans property owners and cost lenders nearly $1.7 million.
Samantha McGee admitted in U.S. District Court in Sacramento, Calif., that she fraudulently obtained home-improvement loans from a Sacramento-based lender and another based in Cincinnati by using homeowners’ names and addresses, fabricating Social Security numbers and electronically signing loan documents without their knowledge.
Prosecutors say McGee falsely claimed her construction company, Deep South Renovations, had installed solar panels, replaced windows and completed other work at homes around New Orleans when no such work was ever done. But by getting Deep South on lenders’ lists of trusted contractors, McGee was able to collect the loan proceeds directly and stick the unsuspecting property owners with the bill…