New York Attorney General Letitia James, who was at the center of a federal mortgage fraud indictment, is back in major legal trouble after prosecutors reopened the investigation into her alleged “fraud home.”
James was hit with two federal criminal referrals on Wednesday, alleging she may have committed homeowners’ insurance fraud.
In documents obtained by The New York Post, Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director William Pulte alleged that James may have falsified information in filings with Illinois-based Allstate Insurance Company and Florida-based Universal Property Insurance.
The referrals were sent to US Attorney for Northern District of Illinois Andrew Boutros and US Attorney for Southern District of Florida Jason Reding Quinones.
The stunning reversal comes four months after a federal judge in Virginia dismissed a criminal indictment against James, accusing New York’s top prosecutor of mortgage fraud.
Pulte’s referrals cited on Wednesday point to insurance documents posted on social media by Mike Davis, a close ally of President Trump and founder of the conservative judicial advocacy group Article III Project.
The new documents appear to suggest James represented to the Illinois-based insurer that a Norfolk, Va., property she purchased in 2020 “would be occupied by a single adult, with no children,” Pulte wrote.
“Instead, according to the post, she knew the house was actually occupied by four people – three children and her niece,” the Housing chief continued. “As such, it appears Ms. James may have defrauded the Illinois-based insurance company.”
In the Florida referral, Pulte alleged James “made false representations” to Universal Property Insurance that the same Norfolk home “would be unoccupied five months out of the year.”
“According to the post, this was false,” he wrote. “The house was, in fact, occupied year-round by her niece.”
A Justice Department spokesperson confirmed that the referrals were received by the US attorneys.
James’ attorney dismissed the allegations as “baseless” and argued the referrals were part of an “improper revenge campaign.”
“Frustrated by repeated failures, where judges and grand juries have rejected their attempts to charge Attorney General James, Trump and his political enablers keep abusing their power to pursue a vendetta against her by trying to rename, refile, and repeat baseless allegations,” James’ attorney Abbe Lowell said in a statement.
“They continue this improper revenge campaign instead of helping bring down the rising cost of living in this country,” Lowell added.
“These desperate tactics will fail — just as every previous attempt has failed — and exposes an Administration that has abandoned its responsibility to the American people in favor of petty political payback.”
US District Judge Cameron Currie dismissed the DOJ’s mortgage fraud case against James last November after finding then interim US Attorney Lindsey Halligan was improperly appointed to her position and “had no lawful authority” to secure indictments.
James’ Norfolk, VA property was also at the center of a police investigation involving criminal activity taking place at the home.
According to reports stemming from last November, James’ grandniece, Nakia Thompson, 36, moved into one home with her three children soon after James closed on the house in August 2020, for which she paid $137,000.
Since then, cops have been summoned to the residence on 12 occasions, according to police records — including several instances in which they were called multiple times in a day.
As previously reported by The Horn News, Thompson has been living rent-free in the Norfolk, VA home since 2020 with her three children. Thompson is wanted in North Carolina for absconding from probation and has been arrested twice for assaulting police officers, court documents show.