S. California Man Gets 55 Months For Scoring $5M+ In Mortgage Loans By Pledging Real Estate He Didn't Own As Collateral

From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (Riverside, California):

• A Sylmar man has pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy and tax evasion charges, admitting that he plotted with others to fraudulently obtain four loans for more than $5 million by pledging houses that they didn’t own as collateral, falsely claiming that the houses had enough equity to secure the loans, forging documents and falsifying notary stamps.
  
  
• Hamlet Sardariani, 42, pleaded guilty [...] in United States District Court. Hamlet Sardariani was scheduled to go on trial next week before United States District Judge Virginia A. Phillips.
  
  
• Three other members of the conspiracy have previously pleaded guilty. Hamlet Sardariani’s brother – Henrik Sardariani, 44, of Glendale – pleaded guilty in January and is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Phillips on August 6 (see: Glendale Man Pleads Guilty In $5 Million Loan Fraud Case).
  
  
• Wanda Tenney, 66, of South Los Angeles, who was an escrow officer, pleaded guilty on December 5, 2011 and is scheduled to be sentenced on October 15. The fourth co-conspirator, Christopher J. Woods, 53, of Beverly Hills, pleaded guilty on November 8, 2011, and is scheduled to be sentenced on July 16.(1)

For the U.S Attorney press release, see Sylmar Man Pleads Guilty In $5.4 Million Loan Fraud Case.

(1) To get a flavor of the kind of civil litigation that was spawned as a result of Sardariani's handiwork, see:

• Bith, LLC v. Downey Savings & Loan Association, FA, (Cal. App. 2nd Dist. Div. 8, August 31, 2010) (unpublished),
• Foremost Investment Properties, LLC v. Gap Fund, LLC, (Cal. App. 2nd Dist. Div. 2, June 8, 2010) (unpublished) .