Real Estate Agent Cops Guilty Plea To Using False Representations To Purloin Over $750K From Prospective Buyers Of Vacant Foreclosures That He Had No Authority To Peddle

From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (Scranton, Pennsylvania):

• The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Ignacio Beato, age 46, of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, pled guilty today [May 26] before United States District Judge James M. Munley to conspiracy to engage in monetary transactions through a financial institution, with funds that were the proceeds of wire fraud. Beato is scheduled to be sentenced on August 31, 2017.
  
  According to United States Attorney Bruce D. Brandler, Beato, who was a licensed realtor, falsely represented to potential purchasers that he was authorized to sell vacant conventional and Federal Housing Administration insured mortgaged properties in Hazleton, when in fact, he did not have such authority. Between December 2013 and March 2015, Beato accepted $751,082 from individuals who believed they were purchasing properties. Beato then fraudulently converted that money to his own personal use.

Source: Hazleton Realtor Pleads Guilty To Money Laundering Conspiracy.