In the following press release R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Michael Fithen, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Secret Service, Robert Parker, Director, Miami-Dade Police Department, and members of the Federal-State Mortgage Fraud Task Force announce that defendant Ishmett Nazario was sentenced today by Chief U.S. District Court Judge Federico Moreno to forty-one months in federal prison in connection with her participation in a mortgage fraud scheme. In addition, Nazario was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $1,442,000.

Nazario was arrested in July 2008 for her involvement in the fraudulent sale of residential property located in Coral Gables, Florida. The Coral Gables property was flipped three times within a one year period, almost doubling the price of the property from $780,000 to $1,400,000. Nazario served as the title agent in the third sale and, through her title company Blue Coast Title, fraudulently released the lender’s funds from escrow to fund the straw buyer’s down payment on the property. Once the final sale closed, the straw buyer, co-defendant Maritza Salan, failed to make a single payment on the mortgage. The property ultimately went into foreclosure, resulting in a significant loss to the lender.

In August 2008, Nazario pled guilty two counts of wire fraud, in violation of Title18, United States Code, Section 1343. Nazario had been charged in an indictment, along with co-defendants Jose E. Alvarez, Yadira Garrido, and Maritza Salan, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349 and two counts of wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, Untied States Code, Section 1343. Alvarez, Garrido and Salan also pled guilty to wire fraud charges.

In sentencing Nazario, Judge Moreno emphasized the seriousness of the offense in this case and the need for deterrence in view of the prevalence of fraud - particularly, mortgage fraud, health care fraud, and identity theft - in the Southern District of Florida and its negative impact on the economy.

This case was investigated by agencies participating in the Federal-State Mortgage Fraud Strike Force. Mr. Acosta commended the investigative efforts of the Mortgage Fraud Strike Force with particular commendation to the U.S. Secret Service and Miami-Dade Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Peter A. Forand.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

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Update on Monday, January 12, 2009 at 1:07PM by The Editor - Ian Shuter - ACFE, DMS

In the following press release R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, announces the January 9, 2009 sentencing of defendants Yadira Garrido, Jorge Cordero andMaritza Salan in connection with their participation in a mortgage fraud scheme. U.S. District Court Judge Federico Moreno sentenced defendant Yadira Garrido to 51 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered the payment of $5,324,000 in restitution. Defendant Jorge Cordero was sentenced to 10 months in prison, three years supervised release, and was ordered to pay $841,863 in restitution. Maritza Salan was sentenced to 60 days in prison, three years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay $841,863 in restitution. Co-defendant Ishmett Nazario was previously sentenced to 41 months in prison, three years supervised release, and was ordered to pay $1,442,000 in restitution.

The defendants were charged for their respective roles in the fraudulent sale of residential property located in Coral Gables, Florida. They subsequently pled guilty in November 2008 to two counts of wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §1343.

According to the Indictment and statements made during the pleas, the defendants transferred the residential property three times within approximately one year, resulting in almost doubling the price of the property from $780,000 to $1,400,000. Yadira Garrido purchased the residential property and flipped it to straw buyer Jorge Cordero. Cordero then transferred the property to co-defendant Jose Alvarez, who sold the property to a second straw buyer Maritza Salan. Garrido provided false employment information to the lender to artificially increase Salan’s ability to borrow $1,330,000 in loans to purchase the property. Once the sale to Salan was effected, Salan failed to make a single payment on these loans. The property ultimately went into foreclosure, resulting in a significant loss to the lender.

This case was investigated by agencies participating in the Federal-State Mortgage Fraud Strike Force. Mr. Acosta commends the investigative efforts of the Mortgage Fraud Strike Force with particular commendation to the U.S. Secret Service and Miami-Dade Police Department. The investigation was led by the U.S. Secret Service and Miami-Dade Police Department and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter A. Forand.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.