Derek Edward Sawyer and Rigoberto Monroy-Parra have each been sentenced (Sawyer, Monroy-Parra) to 18 months in prison for their roles in an Arizona mortgage fraud scheme.

Indicted on June 16, 2010, with nine other defendants, the case against the defendants involved a conspiracy to submit mortgage loan applications on behalf of straw buyers that contained at least one or more of the following material false statements: false statements concerning the intent of the loan applicant to occupy the property as a primary residence; inflated income; false representations concerning employment; or failed to disclose that the loan applicant had recently purchased another property that contained a major liability, a mortgage.

After the title company received the proceeds from the fraudulently obtained loans, portions of those proceeds were converted into cash. The scheme involved the sale of nine properties that were purchased between January and February of 2007. Each of these properties went into foreclosure after the buyers failed to pay the mortgage payments. The estimated losses to the various financial institutions and/or the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) relating to these transactions exceeded $1,000,000.