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Miami, Fla. - (January 12, 2009) R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, announces the January 9, 2009 sentencing of defendants Yadira Garrido, Jorge Cordero and Maritza 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 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.
SOURCE: United States Attorney's Office -- Southern District of Florida
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