David Jose Calderon, 40, Grand Terrace, California, was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison for his role in a mortgage fraud scheme that defrauded the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Calderon was also sentenced to 3 years of supervised release, and a court-ordered restitution of approximately $1.8 million.
Calderon 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.
Rachel Dollar, the editor of Mortgage Fraud Blog is an attorney and Certified Mortgage Banker who handles litigation for lending institutions and secondary market investors.