CONNECTICUT — A Michigan woman has been extradited to Connecticut to face charges related to a mortgage payoff scam that defrauded a client of over $350,000, state police announced Thursday.
Donna Monique Morgan, 37, from Highland Park, was arrested on an extraditable warrant issued by the Connecticut State Police Western District Major Crime Squad. She faces multiple charges, including conspiracy to commit first-degree larceny, first-degree telephone fraud, and criminal impersonation.
The case stems from a 2022 complaint filed by a real estate lawyer whose client fell victim to the fraudulent scheme. In November 2022, the lawyer received two conflicting payoff letters from a mortgage company for a home sale in Southbury. The second letter included a change in the payee’s name and an increased payoff amount. Believing the change was legitimate, the lawyer sent the mortgage payoff funds to a credit union listed in the second letter.
However, when the client realized their mortgage had not been paid off, they contacted authorities, prompting a state police investigation. Detectives discovered that the mortgage payoff funds had been diverted to an account opened by Morgan. Surveillance footage and credit card transactions linked Morgan to the withdrawal of $130,000 in Arlington, Texas.
The investigation revealed Morgan had opened a business account and transferred large sums of money, including $135,000, to herself. She was arrested and arraigned in Danbury, Connecticut, with a bail set at $300,000.
Morgan’s trial is scheduled for January 3. The case remains under investigation by Connecticut State Police and the U.S. Secret Service.
