ALEXANDRIA, VA – June 4, 2010 – (RealEstateRama) — Ahmad Z. Abbasi, 36, of Woodbridge, Va., was sentenced today to 46 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $1,637,412 in restitution. Abbasi pled guilty on March 3, 2010, to conspiracy to commit mail fraud for recruiting unqualified buyers who provided false information to obtain multiple mortgage loans, which were ultimately foreclosed.
Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Daniel S. Cortez, Postal Inspector in Charge, U.S. Postal Inspection Service; and Shawn Henry, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office, made the announcement after sentencing by United States District Judge James C. Cacheris.
According to court documents, from April 2006 to February 2008, Abbasi recruited relatives or associates to fraudulently obtain over $4.5 million in refinanced or new home loans for the purchase of six properties. In furtherance of the scheme, Abbasi and his coconspirators submitted fraudulent loan applications through the U.S. Mail and other means that contained false information regarding the purchasers’ income, employment, and intent to occupy the homes as primary residences. The purchasers fraudulently represented that they worked at the defendant’s auto dealership, submitting false paystubs and W-2s in order to obtain the loans. After these initial purchases were completed, the co-conspirators typically would flip the properties to unqualified buyers at inflated prices, again submitting false information as to the purchasers’ income, employment, and occupancy status.
The real estate agent and mortgage broker involved in the transactions received commission payments from the initial sales, and the participants likewise received undisclosed kickback payments from the sales proceeds generated by the fraudulently inflated secondary sales. After the purchasers subsequently defaulted on the mortgage loans, the lenders initiated foreclosure proceedings, selling the properties for substantial losses.
As a result of these fraudulent loans, Abbasi received kickbacks and proceeds from the loans, refinances, or inflated flips totaling approximately $746,324. The borrowers for each of the properties subsequently defaulted on their loans, resulting in approximately $1,637,412 in losses to the lenders.
This case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the FBI Washington Field Office. Assistant United States Attorney Inayat Delawala prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/vae. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.uspci.uscourts.gov.
