A former NASA scientist is trading lab coats for court dates after admitting she faked financial records to land an $850,000 home in Texas. The U.S. Attorney’s Office confirmed this week that 52-year-old Noreen Khan, once a space toxicologist at NASA, and her husband, 53-year-old contractor Christopher Mayberry, pleaded guilty to mortgage fraud in a scheme that spanned several years and involved falsified income documents, doctored bank records, and even bogus identity theft claims.
The couple now faces up to five years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine, and restitution of more than $276,000. Sentencing is scheduled for December 18.
How the Scheme Played Out
Back in 2017, Khan and Mayberry purchased their Missouri City luxury home with the help of falsified income statements. Court filings reveal the down payment itself was covered by personal loans taken out under similarly fabricated circumstances. When those loans soured, the couple attempted to shift blame, telling creditors they were victims of identity theft.
But investigators uncovered a deeper pattern. In 2019, the couple secured an $820,000 loan after misrepresenting their home as an “investment property.” By 2020, Khan was disputing accounts on her credit report, again claiming identity theft, and even filed lawsuits to erase debts. Lenders ultimately wrote off nearly $277,000.
The most brazen act came in 2021, when Khan refinanced the property for $895,000. To make the deal stick, investigators say she and Mayberry altered a bank statement, swapped her name for his, and forged records to show Mayberry was directly employed by NASA rather than contracted through a private firm.
Just one week after Khan resigned from NASA, the couple closed on the refinance.
The Broader Mortgage Fraud Problem
While the couple’s story has all the markings of a Hollywood drama—NASA scientist, luxury homes, fake pay stubs—the bigger story is that mortgage fraud itself is quietly climbing again in the U.S.
According to Cotality’s National Mortgage Application Fraud Risk Index, about 1 in 116 mortgage applications contained fraud in Q2 of 2025. The riskiest plays? Investment properties and multiunit housing—exactly the type of scenario Khan and Mayberry tried to exploit.
Matt Seguin, senior principal of mortgage fraud solutions at Cotality, told analysts that shifting real estate dynamics are partly to blame. “Interest rate cuts haven’t come at the rate expected over the last year,” Seguin explained, “so purchase transactions, which, historically speaking, have higher fraud risk, continue to represent almost 70% of the applications we see.”
Here’s how the fraud risk has shifted over the past year:
| Fraud Category | Change in 2025 | Change in 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Identity Fraud | ↑ (slight) | Flat |
| Transaction Fraud | ↑ 6.2% | ↑ 4.9% |
| Property Fraud | ↑ (moderate) | Flat |
| Income Fraud | ↑ (steady) | ↑ (minor) |
| Occupancy Fraud | Flat | ↓ (small) |
| Undisclosed Real Estate Debt | ↑ 12% | ↓ 5.9% |
The spike in undisclosed debt and transaction risk signals that borrowers are increasingly hiding financial obligations or misrepresenting how properties will be used. Combine that with higher home prices, steep insurance costs, and the growing market for non-qualified mortgages (loans that sidestep Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rules), and you’ve got a recipe for rising fraud.
Why It Matters
Mortgage fraud isn’t just about one crooked homeowner getting a house they can’t afford. It ripples across the economy—hurting lenders, pushing up rates for everyone else, and adding instability to a housing market that’s already struggling under the weight of high costs and limited supply.
And cases like Khan and Mayberry’s don’t happen in a vacuum. Fraud risk is rising at the same time real estate markets are facing pressure from inflation, delayed interest-rate cuts, and increasingly desperate buyers. That combination makes the job of mortgage underwriters—and federal investigators—much tougher.
FAQs:
Who is Noreen Khan?
Khan is a former NASA space toxicologist who, along with her husband, admitted to falsifying financial records to buy and refinance a Texas luxury home.
How much debt did lenders forgive in their case?
Court filings show about $276,709.42 in debt was written off after Khan falsely claimed identity theft.
What penalties do they face?
Each faces up to five years in federal prison, fines up to $250,000, restitution, and potential forfeiture of the home.
