| SAN BERNARDINO, CA COUNTY MAN SENTENCED
TO PRISON FOR MORTGAGE FRAUD SCHEME
A Grand Terrace man was sentenced on Monday by Senior United
States District Judge Consuelo B. Marshall to 24 months in federal
prison for his role in a mortgage fraud scheme that defrauded
the Department of Housing and Urban Development. David Jose Calderon,
40, was also sentenced to 3 years of supervised release, and
a court-ordered restitution of approximately $1.8 million.
Calderon, a resident of Grand Terrace, California, was one
of four people indicted in June 2004 by federal grand jury in
the Central District of California. Also indicted were Calderon’s
wife, Baneza Calderon, his brother, Carlos Calderon, and an employee,
Robert Cardenas. The defendants were charged with making false
statements, aiding and abetting, and conspiracy for their roles
in a fraud scheme involving forty-two residential properties.
These properties were sold to non-existent or unqualified buyers
using federally-insured Federal Housing Authority (FHA) mortgage
loans. Calderon and others caused loan applications to be submitted
to mortgage lenders which included false down-payment, identity,
income and employment information.
On June 12, 2006, David Calderon, pled guilty to one count
which charged violations of Title 18, USC, Section 1001 (False
Statements) and Title 18, USC, Section 2 (Aiding and Abetting)
for his participation in the fraud scheme. The other co-defendants
also plead guilty in April and June of 2006 to charges related
to this scheme.
Carlos Calderon was sentenced on May 10, 2007, to ten months
of incarceration, three years of supervised release, and a court-ordered
restitution of $273,690. Baneza Calderon was sentenced on May
15, 2007, to three years of probation and court-ordered restitution
of $370,354. Robert Cardenas has not yet been sentenced.
The investigation that resulted in David Calderon's prosecution
was conducted by special agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI) and the Department of Housing and Urban Development Office
of the Inspector General (HUD-OIG), both members of the Housing
and Urban Development Fraud Initiative Task Force. This case
was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney's William
Crowfoot and David Kettel.
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