Overview
- A federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia indicted James on bank fraud and false‑statement counts tied to a 2020 Norfolk purchase, alleging she certified the house as a second home but treated it as a rental.
- Prosecutors point to a signed second‑home rider, tax filings showing zero personal days and reported rent, and say a 3% loan from Old Virginia Mortgage/AnnieMac yielded about $18,933 in savings.
- Her grandniece, Nakia Thompson, has lived at the Norfolk house since 2020, is listed in North Carolina as an absconder from probation, and told a Norfolk grand jury she did not pay rent.
- New reporting says another relative, Cayla Thompson‑Hairston, resides at a separate James‑owned Virginia property that drew federal scrutiny, and her 2024 gun‑purchase charge was later dropped.
- James declared herself "totally innocent" and called the case retribution; ABC News reports the indictment was brought by an interim U.S. attorney over career prosecutors’ objections, with arraignment set for Oct. 24.