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Couple Plead Not Guilty to Fraud

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Times Staff Writer

A Palmdale couple accused of bilking banks out of at least $1 million in an alleged real estate fraud scheme pleaded not guilty Tuesday to a variety of charges, including identify theft, grand theft and fraud, authorities said.

Willie Edwards, 54, and his wife, Pamela, 44, were taken into custody Monday morning after investigators with a warrant searched their home in the 6700 block of Pistachio Place, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Chris Christopher said.

Investigators allege that the pair, running a company called “Elite Home Services,” would approach homeowners facing foreclosure and offer, for a fee, to delay the bank takeover by finding someone who had filed for bankruptcy protection and adding his or her name to the deeds, thus staving off the banks temporarily.

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Some went along with the scheme, investigators said.

But a woman who refused to get involved led investigators to the couple, who had moved into her home in Palmdale after she moved out, Christopher said.

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