Theresa Marcianti, 60, Las Vegas, Nevada, a real estate escrow officer, was convicted of conspiracy and fraud charges for her involvement in a mortgage fraud scheme that caused millions of dollars in losses to the lenders and financial institutions.
The defendant was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit bank, mail, and wire fraud, two counts of bank fraud, and one count of wire fraud, and is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 10, 2013, at 10:00 a.m. She faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the conspiracy count, and up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine on each bank fraud and wire fraud count.
According to the indictment and evidence presented to the jury during the trial, from about 2003 to 2008, Marcianti, a real estate escrow officer who worked for Lawyer’s Title and National Alliance Title, conspired with others to trick lenders into making home loans through the use of false statements. The conspirators cheated lenders by using straw buyers to buy homes, submitting false information to lenders to make it appear that the straw buyers qualified for the loans, and taking a portion of the loans for their personal gain. Marcianti helped the co-conspirators submit the false information to the lenders to obtain the mortgage loans.
The conspirators in the scheme obtained control of approximately 227 properties which had a total purchase price of more than $100 million. The exact number of fraudulent transactions in which Marcianti was involved and the losses for which she is responsible will be determined at sentencing in December.
Daniel G. Bogden, United States Attorney for the District of Nevada, made the annoucement.
The case was investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel R. Schiess and Kimberly M. Frayn.
“Over the last five years, we have made the prosecution of mortgage fraud cases a priority,” said U.S. Attorney Bogden. “This type of fraud was a catalyst to the real estate crisis in Nevada. Punishing those criminals for their actions should send a strong message to others who are looking to profit from the misfortune of others.”
Couldn’t have happened to a nicer person.
I agree! She is wonderful and hard working woman who has been singled out and wrongfully convicted! I often wonder why the FBI has not prosecuted the other escrow officers who handled the other 200 files mentioned in this case. If I am not mistaken, theresa only handled approximately 50 files of the 277 that have been reported.
Yeah, she definitely is not a nice and wonderful person. Hopefully some prison time will bring her closer to god and turn her into a nicer person and not the huge egomaniac that she currently is.