Loan Officer Found Guilty For Stealing Ex-Client's I.D. To Help Another Buy $589K Home; Two Co-Defendants Cop Plea On Eve Of Trial

From the Office of the Queens County, New York District Attorney:

• Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown [...] announced that a Queens Village woman who is a loan officer has been convicted of stealing the personal identity of a former client to help another client purchase a house in Brooklyn. [...] District Attorney Brown identified the defendant as Janet Salazar, a.k.a.Yanet Salazar, 37, of [...] Queens Village. She was convicted yesterday of first-degree identity theft, third-degree unlawful possession of personal identification information and third degree criminal possession of stolen property following a jury trial [...].(1)

***

• 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 trial testimony, Solano provided her personal identification information to Salazar and Garcia in early 2007 for a loan application for a property in Queens. The deal subsequently fell through and the sale did not go forward.

For the Queens DA press release, see Loan Officer Convicted In Identity Theft Fraud Scheme (Stole Identity of Former Client To Purchase $589,000 Property).

(1) According to the press release, her co-defendants, Elba Garcia and Olga Espinal, pleaded guilty at the start of the trial. Garcia, 53, of Elmhurst, who is a realtor, pleaded guilty to first-degree identity theft, third-degree unlawful possession of personal identification information and third degree criminal possession of stolen property. She will be sentenced on January 21, 2010. Espinal, 46, of Corona, who impersonated the victim, pleaded guilty to third-degree identity theft. She will be sentenced on February 1, 2010. Garcia and Espinal are expected to be sentenced to community service. Garcia additionally faces probation and restitution of $20,381.