A former mortgage originator and real estate agent is headed to prison for his role in a $2.5 million mortgage fraud scheme.
A former Miami mortgage broker and real estate agent has been sentenced to more than 11 years in prison for his role in a $2.4 million mortgage fraud scheme.
Jose Armando Alvarado, 64, was sentenced Thursday to 135 months in prison for his role in the scam. Alvarado was found guilty in September of eight counts of wire fraud and six counts of bank fraud, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Two of Alvarado’s co-conspirators were also sentenced Thursday. His nephew, Alberto Morejon, 27, was sentenced to 36 months in prison. Morejon’s mother and Alvarado’s sister, 58-year-old Reyna Orts, got a sentence of 50 months.
According to prosecutors, Alvarado and his co-conspirators operated their scam by using their control of three real estate companies to fraudulently secure loans worth more than $2.4 million. They got the loans by submitting false documentation such as phony tax returns, bank statements, W2s and employment verifications, the DOJ said. Alvarado and his co-conspirators then diverted proceeds from the loans for their own use.
“The defendants used their knowledge and experience in the real estate industry to conceal the scheme by executing quit-claim deeds and failing to record, and falsely recording, mortgage deeds and other documentation with the State of Florida,” the DOJ stated in a news release.
