DETROIT – The director of a Detroit nonprofit is facing charges for her alleged involvement in a scheme that stole more than 30 homes from low-income Wayne County residents.
Zina Thomas, 60, of Detroit, was serving as the Director of Homeownership Programs for the United Community Housing Coalition (UCHC) when federal officials say she conspired with others to steal more than 30 properties across Wayne County, mostly in Detroit.
The United Community Housing Coalition (UCHC), is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that offers housing assistance to low-income Detroit residents. The UCHC and its leadership cooperated with the investigation.
Thomas is accused of orchestrating a scheme to defraud others by filing multiple fraudulent quitclaim deeds, frequently transferring the target properties from the victim-owners to non-existent “interim owners” before ultimately selling the properties to unwitting third parties. The scheme targeted low-income individuals who were facing potential tax foreclosure.
The fraudulent deeds were falsely notarized by Thomas or another person before they were filed with the Register of Deeds. Thomas is accused of emailing a Wayne County Treasurer’s Office employee fake driver’s licenses and other documents, which were then uploaded into the Treasurer’s Property Tax Administration system to stop pending foreclosures.
Investigators said that Thomas received payment for at least some of the properties via wire transfer into a bank account in the same name of her realty company. The funds were then transferred to her personal bank account. Officials said Thomas currently lives in one of the properties involved in the scheme.
Thomas has been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, and aggravated identity theft. She was arrested on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024.