Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Loan Officer Gets 42 Months For Role In Scam That Included Identity Theft In Connection With Processing Mortgage Applications; Suspect Sold His Own Home To One Unwitting Victim For A $320K Profit; Another Swindled Victim Took $193K+ Hit

From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (Alexandria, Virginia):
  • Kenneth H. DiPasquale, 38, of Morgantown, W. Va., was sentenced [] to 42 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for his role in a series of fraudulent mortgage loan transactions, including one in which he stole an individual’s identity and “sold” that individual his home for a nearly $320,000 profit. DiPasquale was also ordered to pay a total of $3,354,773 in restitution to his victims and to forfeit $529,098 in proceeds from his crimes.
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  • According to court records, DiPasquale was employed in 2007 as a loan officer at Landover, Md., mortgage lender Citywide Mortgage. DiPasquale used that position to process loans based on false and fraudulent information, including for borrowers who had not applied for loans and who had no idea their names and identities had been used as borrowers in the transactions.

    In particular, DiPasquale processed fraudulent loans in exchange for kickbacks from a co-conspirator. When he had trouble selling his own home in Bowie, Md., in October 2007, he stole the identity of an individual living in Arlington, Va., and “sold” this victim his house at a nearly $320,000 profit.

    He also engineered a series of transactions involving a homeowner in Hyattsville, Md., whom he swindled out of over $193,000.

    Co-conspirator Nadin Samnang, a former Virginia realtor and title company owner, was convicted of mortgage fraud-related charges following a trial in April 2012 and was sentenced to 84 months in prison.

    Co-defendant Lyle C. Williams pleaded guilty to conspiracy and identity theft charges in November 2012 and was sentenced to 18 months in prison.