Jaime Olaya Marroquin, a/k/a Jaime Olaya, 53, was sentenced to 30 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release for arranging a fraudulent short sale of a 10-acre residential property in Southwest Ranches, Florida. Marroquin previously pled guilty to one count of bank fraud. As part of his plea agreement, Olaya agreed to forfeit the 10-acre property involved in the transaction.
According to court documents, in 2005, Olaya purchased a 10-acre residential property in Southwest Ranches, Florida. In 2008, he quitclaimed ½ of the property to AJZ Investments (AJZ), a company he controlled. To avoid having to continue making payments on the $1.6 million mortgage debt, Olaya submitted a request to the bank for a short sale on the property while intentionally excluding the portion of the property he quitclaimed to AJZ.
Olaya arranged for his family member to make a written offer to purchase the property for $430,000, but he did not inform the bank that the buyer was a family member. The defendant represented to the bank that the buyer would be putting her own money into a cash purchase of the property, but in reality the buyer did not put any money into the purchase. Olaya wired the money to the U.S. from a bank in Colombia after telling the bank that he did not have sufficient assets to pay the original mortgage debt.
The bank approved the short sale of the property for $430,000, and canceled Olaya’s remaining $1.2 million debt and released the mortgages encumbering the entire 10 acres. As a result of the fraud, Olaya was successful in preventing the bank from obtaining the benefit of the approximately $421,000 value of the property that was quitclaimed to AJZ.
A restitution hearing is scheduled for January 22, 2015.
Wifredo A. Ferrer, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Robert C. Hutchinson, Acting Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI), and J.D. Patterson, Director, Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD), announced the sentencing. Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI, ICE-HSI, and the Miami-Dade Police Department. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank H. Tamen.
