Waldo Eli Alicea, 45, Fredericksburg, Maryland was sentenced to 15 months in prison followed by 3 years of supervised release and was ordered to pay restitution of $191,984 for conspiring to commit mail fraud and bank fraud in connection with his involvement in a real estate fraud scheme involving property flipping.

According to the statement of facts presented to the court on October 28, 2005 at his guilty plea, from July 1999 to February 2000 Alicea and others executed a scheme to defraud mortgage lenders using “flip” transactions involving fraudulent mortgages for the purchase of single family homes in Charles and Prince George’s counties, Maryland. Although Alicea is not a licensed real estate appraiser, he provided real estate appraisal services. Alicea and his co-conspirators contracted to purchase a foreclosed or bank-owned property at a depressed price. They then entered into a second contract to sell the property at a much higher price to a straw purchaser. The “flip” was typically accomplished through the use of fraudulent appraisals prepared by Alicea, which created the false impression that the property was worth the much higher price. The flip was also often accomplished through the use of fraudulent documents submitted in support of mortgage loan applications. Alicea approached various individuals to serve as straw purchasers, assuring them that they could purchase properties at little or no personal financial risk. Alicea supplied lenders with false information about the straw purchasers’ personal financial circumstances, thereby enabling the straw purchaser to qualify for a mortgage loan based on the artificially inflated price.