Rachel Siders, 39, Roseville, California, was convicted by a federal jury and found guilty of bank fraud, making a false loan application, and committing aggravated identity theft.
Siders’ week-long trial was held before United States District Judge John A. Mendez.
According to evidence presented at trial, in 2008 Siders and co-defendant Theo Adams applied for a home equity line of credit in the name of Adams’ relative on an underwater property owned by Adams in Roseville. As part of the false loan application, Siders and Adams submitted false tax returns for the relative with significantly inflated income. Siders and Adams also submitted mortgage application documents with forged signatures.
Siders, a notary public at the time of the crime, falsely notarized the loan application documents, which were sent to Washington Mutual Bank as part of the mortgage application. Washington Mutual Bank relied upon the falsely notarized documents and the false tax returns in deciding to provide a $250,000 line of credit. Siders received $170,000 of the proceeds and Adams received the rest. They made minimal payments on the line of credit and the loan defaulted. Siders’ counts of conviction all relate to this transaction. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on counts relating to a second charged transaction.
Siders is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Mendez on June 9, 2015. She faces a maximum statutory penalty of 30 years in prison and a $1,000,000 fine on the bank fraud charge, 30 years in prison and a $1,000,000 fine on the false loan application charge, and two years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the aggravated identity theft charge. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.
Theo Adams pleaded guilty on September 3, 2013, and has yet to be sentenced.
United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced the conviction.
This case was the product of an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorneys Matthew D. Segal, Christiaan H. Highsmith, and Michele Beckwith are prosecuting the case.
