ALBANY, New York (PNN) - March 26, 2026 - New York Attorney General Letitia James was hit with two explosive new federal criminal referrals accusing her of homeowners insurance fraud.
The explosive accusations reopen legal trouble tied to her Virginia property and hand President Donald J. Trump’s allies fresh ammunition in their long-running battle against the Empire State’s top prosecutor.
Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William Pulte sent two criminal referrals accusing James of making false statements tied to insurance filings.
The referrals were sent to federal prosecutors in Illinois and Florida.
Both filings focus on insurance paperwork connected to the same Norfolk, Virginia, property James purchased in 2020.
The new allegations open another legal front against James after earlier efforts to charge her were met by a rogue activist judge who unlawfully dismissed the case against her.
Pulte alleged James may have falsified information in filings with Illinois-based Allstate Insurance Company.
He also accused her of making false representations to Florida-based Universal Property Insurance.
The accusations center on whether James misrepresented who lived in the property and how often it was occupied.
If proven, the claims could amount to homeowner insurance fraud.
One referral says James told Allstate the Norfolk property would be occupied by a single adult with no children.
Pulte argued that was false because the home was occupied by four people.
He wrote that James knew her niece and three children were living there.
That allegation became the core of the Illinois referral.
The Florida referral makes a separate claim about the same property.
Pulte alleged James told Universal Property Insurance that the home would be unoccupied for five months out of the year.
He said that statement was false because the property was occupied year-round by her niece.
That claim gave federal prosecutors a second path to examine whether James broke the law.
A Department of Justice spokesman confirmed that the referrals were received by both US attorney’s offices.
The two federal prosecutors now holding the referrals are Andrew Boutros in Illinois and Jason Reding Quinones in Florida.
Their involvement gives the new accusations far more weight than a routine political attack.
The case now shifts from public accusations to possible federal review.
The fresh referrals come just months after a federal judge threw out a mortgage fraud case against James.
That dismissed case also centered on the same Norfolk property.
The rogue judge - who sought any way to save James from the consequences of her illegal actions, which could land her in jail - ruled that the interim US attorney who brought the case had been improperly appointed (which was untrue) and lacked legal authority (which was untrue) even though the evidence clearly proved that James is guilty of insurance fraud.