Colorado Attorney General John Suthers has announced that a Statewide Grand Jury has indicted Jill Evans and her company, Paramount Mortgage of Colorado Ltd., of defrauding more than a dozen individuals across the country out of thousands of dollars in fees for mortgages and loans she never delivered. According to the 18-count indictment, filed in Denver District Court, Evans defrauded her victims out of approximately $500,000 by charging upfront fees in exchange for what her victims believed were commercial and residential loans.

Evans is suspected of failing to refund the fees, wired to the bank account of Paramount Mortgage of Colorado Ltd. The transactions affected include properties in Crested Butte; Beverly Hills, Calif.; Calabasas, Calif.; Chicago, Ill.; and New Carrollton, Md.

“Since becoming attorney general, my office has made investigating and prosecuting mortgage fraud cases one of our top priorities,” Suthers said. “Mortgage fraud harms everyone involved in real estate transactions—lenders, buyers and sellers—by disrupting the market. This indictment underlines my office’s continuing commitment to investigate and prosecute mortgage and lending fraud cases.”

Evans could face up to 12 years in prison and a fine up to $750,000 fine if convicted of any of the eight class-three felony counts of theft included in the indictment. She also faces one count of theft as a class-four felony and nine counts of forgery, a class-five felony.