Thread: Real estate agent gets 4 years for fraud

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/r ... 35,00.html

Real estate agent gets 4 years for fraud
STORY TOOLS
Email this story | Print
By John Rebchook, Rocky Mountain News
June 9, 2006
A Lakewood real estate agent has been sentenced to 49 months in federal prison after pleading guilty in March to wire fraud and money laundering that involved arranging more than 100 fraudulent loans and mortgages for illegal immigrants and other unqualified home buyers, officials said Thursday.
William E. Mendez, 41, formerly the head of the William E. Mendez Team, also was ordered by U.S. District Judge Wiley Y. Daniel on Wednesday to pay restitution of almost $1.3 million to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

As part of his plea agreement, Mendez also agreed not to work in any facet of real estate. That includes working as a broker, mortgage banker or investor.

Experts have said that cases of people preying on illegal immigrants and other Spanish-speaking people in the housing industry is a big problem in the Denver area, but that it is hard to quantify.

"Unfortunately, this is not something we track," Tyrone Adams, spokesman for the Colorado Association of Realtors, said Thursday. "But from the association's perspective, whenever these kind of issues come to light, we do take them very seriously. If we are contacted, we do have resources to get people the help they need. We do have Spanish-speaking Realtors we can put them in touch with."

He said that while it could be possible that someone such as Mendez can give honest and ethical Hispanic Realtors a "black eye," the vast majority of the Realtors do not violate their ethics codes.

"We urge all Realtors to re-read their code of ethics," as well as take advantage of classes and programs that address issues of ethics and discrimination, he said.

Court documents say that between January 2000 and November 2002, the Mendez Team assisted clients "whom they knew to be illegal aliens or otherwise unqualified to receive home mortgages" in preparing more than 100 false residential home loan applications.

The phony documents included false tax forms and pay stubs; bogus Social Security numbers and cards; false letters of credit; and falsified Immigration and Naturalization forms known as green cards.

In addition to Mendez, several others have pleaded guilty in the scheme. They include Rogaciano Caldera, a real estate agent, sentenced to 18 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $80,792 to HUD; Leonor Martinez, a home buyer who defaulted on a loan, sentenced to time served and ordered to pay $35,620 to HUD; Maria Lidia Baeza, a home buyer sentenced to time served; Patricia Soehnge, part of the Mendez Team who also prepared false documents, sentenced to serve 18 month in federal prison and ordered to pay $41,734 to HUD with another defendant, Nicolas Lopez; Lopez, who was sentenced to five years' probation and ordered to pay $40,984 to HUD with Soehnge; and Claudia Mendez, the sister of William Mendez, who acted as a real estate agent but wasn't licensed. She has pleaded guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced June 21.

Also, Benedicta Gomez, who prepared fraudulent tax returns, has pleaded guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced in August.

The phony documents included false tax forms and pay stubs; bogus Social Security numbers and cards; false letters of credit; and falsified Immigration and Naturalization forms known as green cards.

what about the banks offering low rate mortgages to ILLEGALS

every illegal has to use phony documents, so are they also being charged? -- NO, of course not, illegals have immunity

Say, has anyone noticed that so many "lawbreakers" have Latino last names? Are these people legal, or illegal?

Have they just come into our Country to corrupt our laws?

If they are legal, are they just here to break every law we have to make a buck?

IF this is what they are doing, all illegals should be shipped back to their countries...pronto!