Lawyer-TV Host Found Guilty in Fraud Case

A 49-year-old San Fernando Valley lawyer who hosted television and radio shows advising people how to purchase real estate was found guilty Friday of using false identification to obtain more than $600,000 in loans, according to authorities.

Ione Young Gray of West Hills, who has law offices in Century City, was convicted in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles of two counts of making false statements on a loan application and two counts of using a false Social Security number, said Jonathan Shapiro, the assistant United States attorney who prosecuted the case.

Gray faces a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count, authorities said. Sentencing is scheduled May 1.

“We are satisfied with the results and we are pleased the jury followed the law with the evidence,” Shapiro said.

Gray’s attorney could not be reached for comment.

An investigation by the Internal Revenue Service and the FBI found that Gray had used an assumed identity for eight years, claiming to be the wife of a man who formerly owned her house, Shapiro said.

Using the name “I.G. Williams,” Gray was able to obtain credit cards, Shapiro said.

Gray also used the false name, a fake Social Security number and misrepresented her income in two applications to refinance her home mortgage with two Woodland Hills branches of World Savings and Loan, Shapiro said.

Gray also falsely claimed in the applications that her housekeeper was the president of her real estate company, United Seminars Service Corp., according to Shapiro.

Witnesses testified that Gray used her false identity when she appeared at seminars throughout Southern California, advising people how to purchase foreclosed homes for profit, Shapiro said. Her show, “Profits in Foreclosures,” was broadcast on a Los Angeles public access TV cable station.