Gabriel Serrano, Mortgage Fraud, Connecticut 2023

A former West Hartford attorney has been sentenced to prison for his role in a mortgage fraud scheme that involved the use of straw borrowers and false mortgage applications.

GABRIEL SERRANO, 49, of West Hartford, was sentenced to 12 months and one day of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release, for his role in the extensive mortgage fraud scheme.

Serrano was a partner at the law firm of Serrano & Serrano, LLC in West Hartford until December 2013 when he was suspended from the bar.

According to court documents and statements made in court, from approximately June 2005 to at least November 2008, Serrano was involved in a mortgage fraud conspiracy with co-defendants Filippos Milios, Malgorzata Karas-Golka, Carmelinda Marotta, Daniel Monteiro, and others.

The scheme involved the use of straw borrowers, false mortgage applications, false HUD-1 forms, fraudulent down payments, and false verification forms for the purchase of over 50 houses in Hartford, New Haven, and Middlesex counties.

Serrano often served as the closing attorney on at least two dozen fraudulent transactions, and the loss attributable to his conduct is approximately $3.5 million.

On August 6, 2013, Serrano pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and bank fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Milios, Karas-Golka, Marotta and Monteiro also pleaded guilty and were sentenced to prison terms of 97 months, 30 months, 30 months and 13 months, respectively.

The matter was investigated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development – Office of Inspector General, the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys David T. Huang and William J. Nardini.

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