NYC Realty Agent, Loan Officer Facing Charges Of Swiping, Using Former Client's I.D. To Obtain $589K Mortgage

From the office of the Queens District Attorney:

• Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown [last week] announced that two Queens women, a realtor and a loan officer, have been charged with stealing the personal identity of a former client to purchase a Brooklyn property. It is alleged that they initially tried to get her to participate in the scheme, then used her identity after she refused. [...] District Attorney Brown identified the defendants as Elba A. Garcia, 50, of [...] Elmhurst, and Yanet Salazar a.k.a. Janet Salazar, 35, of [...] Queens Village.

• The District Attorney said that the investigation began in August 2007 when Queens resident Aurora Solano received notice in the mail indicating that a mortgage for $589,000 had been issued in her name and that a monthly payment of over $5,000 was due on September 1, 2007. Solano, who did not apply for a mortgage or authorize anyone to use her personal identification, reported the incident to the police. District Attorney Brown said that, according to the charges, Solano provided her personal identification information to defendants Garcia and Salazar, a realtor and loan officer, respectively, in early 2007 for a loan application for a property in Queens. The deal subsequently fell through and the sale did not go forward.

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• Both women are charged with first-degree identity theft and third-degree unlawful possession of personal identific ation information. If convicted, each defendant faces up to seven years in prison.

For more, see the Queens DA press release: Realtor And Loan Officer Charged In Identity Theft Scheme (Allegedly Stole Identity of Former Client To Purchase $589,000 Property). identity theft