Linda Yarleque and Fabio Moreno Vargas, Bank Fraud and Conspiracy, New Jersey 2014

A Bergen County couple’s elaborate scheme to swindle millions in mortgage loans has been brought to an end with their conviction on bank fraud and conspiracy charges.

Linda Yarleque, 44, and her husband Fabio Moreno Vargas, 46, of Westwood, N.J., were convicted of one count each of bank fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Jurors in U.S. District Judge William H. Walls’ courtroom deliberated just two hours before delivering the guilty verdicts in a one-week trial.

The couple’s scheme involved obtaining 10 fraudulent loans over three years, falsifying employment and income information, concealing debts and other properties, and lying about their residence. Their deceitful ways earned them a total of $3.4 million in mortgages, with approximately $269,000 of that cash being pocketed through ‘cash out’ refinancings directed to their own bank accounts.

The defendants used the ill-gotten gains to fund lavish vacations, purchase new vehicles, and buy additional properties. To maintain their ruse, they concocted a phony business, My Limousine, where Moreno supposedly worked. They then secured a phone line under the business name and forwarded it to their personal cell phones, allowing them to pose as fictitious employees and deceive mortgage lenders.

Each count of bank fraud and conspiracy carries a maximum potential penalty of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine. Sentencing for the pair is set for March 11, 2014.

Credit for the investigation goes to special agents of the FBI, working under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Aaron T. Ford in Newark, as well as IRS-Criminal Investigation for its role in the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Jamari Buxton and Rachael A. Honig represented the government in court.

Defense counsel for the couple includes Peter Willis Esq. for Linda Yarleque and Chester Keller Esq. and Carol Gillen Esq., who are Assistant Federal Public Defenders in Newark.

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