Crime & Safety

Norwalk Real Estate Agent Jailed for Mortgage Fraud

Anna McElaney, 40, received an eight-month jail term and six months of house confinement as part of her sentence after a mortgage fraud scheme in which $30,000 was stolen from a bank.

A 40-year-old Norwalk real estate agent was sentenced to eight months in federal prison and six months in home confinement for bilking a bank as part of a mortgage fraud scheme.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Haven, Anna McElaney of Norwalk and Sergio Natera, also a real estate agent, conspired together to tell a bank that they could only sell a house for $102,000, which less than the mortgage still owed on it.

When Regions Bank accepted the lower price as payment for the mortgage, a company owned by Natera bought the house and immediately sold it for $30,000 more to a buyer. The bank had never been told about the buyer and the price that buyer was willing to pay. McElaney and Natera planned to split the $30,000 difference.

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McElaney, the listing agent for the property in Bridgeport, had an offer on it for $132,500 in December 2007. She arranged to have Natera buy the residence on June 9, 2008, through his company, BOS Asset Management LLC, for 201,375. That same day, Natera's company sold the property to the original bidder for $132,500.

Transactions in which banks accept lower prices than the mortgage still owed on a property is called a "short sale" and is, in itself, a legitimate business transaction, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Haven.

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"This prosecution should serve as a warning to real estate agents and others who seek to take advantage of the current financial crisis by defrauding lenders through short sale fraud schemes," U.S. Attorney David B. Fein said in a news release.

In February 2010, McElaney and Natera each pleaded guilty to a count of bank fraud. Judge Janet C. Hall in U.S. District Court in Bridgeport sentenced McElaney on Monday to the prison term and three years of probation, the first six months of which is to be spent in home confinement. Natera hasn't yet been sentenced.

In 2009, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Connecticut and the FBI formed the "Connecticut Mortgage Fraud Task Force" to investigate and prosecute mortgage fraud perpetrators in the state. Other federal agencies are also involved in the task force, along with the Connecticut Department of Banking.

Anyone who suspects mortgage fraud is encouraged to call 203-333-3512 and ask for the Connecticut Mortgage Fraud Task Force, or send an email to ctmortgagefraud@ic.fbi.gov, according to the news release. The federal government has also set up a website for anyone to report financial fraud or learn more about the President’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force.


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