In the following press release the United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California announced that a man who was renting a Valley Village home has been arrested on federal bank fraud charges for allegedly attempting to secure a $500,000 home equity line of credit on the house.

Eduard Sargsyan, 55, was arrested by special agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation last Thursday afternoon after completing loan documents at a Bank of American branch in Sherman Oaks.

According to a criminal complaint filed last Friday, last fall Sargsyan rented the Valley Village home, which was owned by a family trust. In February, a “Trust Transfer Deed” was recorded with the Los Angeles County Recorder’s Office, which transferred title of the home to Sargsyan. In March, Sargsyan used Bank of America’s website to apply for a home equity line of credit on the property. During two meetings at Bank of America where an FBI agent posed as a loan officer, Sargsyan said he owned the home and wanted prompt funding of a $500,000 line of credit. Sargsyan was arrested at the bank branch.

Appearing in United States District Court on Friday afternoon, Sargsyan, who is also known as Genadi Verdiyan and Gehadi Verdiyan, was ordered held without bond until a detention hearing scheduled for this Thursday. An arraignment in the case is scheduled for April 28.

A criminal complaint contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until proven guilty.

The bank fraud charge in the criminal complaint carries a statutory maximum penalty of 30 years in federal prison.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which received the full cooperation of Bank of America.