Virginia Loan Officer Pleads Guilty to Mortgage Fraud

Alejandro Alquinta of Springfield, Va., has pled guilty to using his position as a loan officer to help carry out a multi-million dollar mortgage fraud scheme. Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and James W. McJunkin, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office, made the announcement after the plea was accepted by United States District Judge Liam O’Grady. Alquinta pleaded guilty to a one-count criminal information charging him with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Alquinta faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison when he is sentenced on March 4, 2011. According to the statement of facts filed with his plea agreement, Alquinta worked as a loan officer at SunTrust Mortgage in Falls Church, Va., from 2003-2006. Between 2005-2006, Alquinta acted as a loan officer for at least 14 fraudulent property transactions in which straw buyers and unqualified buyers obtained over $4 million in mortgage loan proceeds. In order to gain approval for these mortgage loans, Alquinta and others prepared false and fraudulent mortgage loan applications for straw buyers and unqualified buyers, which were then submitted to a lending institution. The mortgage loan applications contained materially false, fraudulent, and misleading information, including false information regarding applicants’ employment, income, and assets. As a direct result of Alquinta’s conduct, mortgage lenders suffered losses of nearly $500,000. This ongoing investigation is being conducted by the FBI Washington Field Office. Assistant United States Attorneys Charles Connolly and Uzo Asonye are prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States. For more information, visit www.justice.gov/usao/vae.