Minerva Sanchez, Bank Fraud, California 2015

FRESNO, Calif. — In a shocking turn of events, Minerva Sanchez, 48, of Fremont, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud, announced United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner. The crimes date back to March 2010 when Sanchez, a licensed real estate agent, recommended a short sale of a home in Patterson, California, using her son as the straw buyer.

According to court documents, Sanchez advised the seller to submit false and fraudulent short-sale applications to Tri Counties Bank and Freddie Mac, causing the financial institutions to approve the charge-off of funds for the short sale of the seller’s home. The seller, acting on Sanchez’s advice, provided the straw buyer with the full purchase price of the home ($355,000).

Sanchez also provided the seller with a ‘hardship letter’ for him to use in connection with the short-sale application, stating that he was unable to make his monthly mortgage payments. However, Sanchez knew that the seller could make his monthly mortgage payments with proceeds from a pending sale of other property he owned.

Sanchez, along with the seller and straw buyer, made other misrepresentations to the financial institutions in connection with the short sale, including false statements that the transaction was ‘arm’s length,’ and false statements concerning the parties’ hidden agreement that the seller would provide the straw buyer with the purchase money for the short sale and ultimately regain ownership of his home following the short sale.

Sanchez’s guilty plea admits that her criminal conduct caused the financial institutions to lose more than $316,000. She faces a maximum statutory penalty of 30 years in prison and a $1,000,000 fine.

Sanchez is scheduled to be sentenced by Senior U.S. District Judge Anthony W. Ishii on February 17, 2015. The actual sentence will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

On June 10, 2013, the seller of the Patterson property, Agustin Simon, 52, of Gustine, pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit bank fraud in connection with this scheme. He is scheduled to be sentenced on December 1, 2014, before U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill.

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