Patterson man sentenced to federal prison for real estate fraud

A judge on Monday sentenced a Patterson man to 15 months in federal prison for conspiring with his real estate agent to commit bank fraud in the short sale of his home five years ago.

Agustin Simon, 53, also was ordered to pay $421,000 in restitution to the financial institutions victimized. On June 10, 2013, Simon pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit bank fraud in connection with the short-sale scheme.

His real estate agent, Minerva Sanchez, has already been sentenced to 21 months in federal prison for her role in the conspiracy.

In March 2010, Sanchez represented Simon in the sale of his Patterson home. The real estate agent recommended that he undertake a short sale of his home using her son as a straw buyer, federal prosecutors have said.

After the sale, the plan was for the seller to regain ownership of the home, but with a smaller outstanding loan balance.

Simon, acting on Sanchez’s advice, submitted fraudulent short-sale applications to Tri Counties Bank and Freddie Mac that caused them to approve the funds for the short sale of his home, according to the prosecutors.

With Sanchez’s knowledge, Simon gave Sanchez’s son $355,000 to buy the home. The prosecutors said Sanchez, her son and Simon falsely claimed that the transaction was “arm’s length” and hid the agreement that Simon would regain ownership of the home.

They also made false statements about Simon’s assets and ownership of other real estate, the prosecutors said. Sanchez wrote a “hardship letter” for Simon to include with the short-sale application, falsely claiming Simon couldn’t make his monthly mortgage payments.

This story was originally published March 2, 2015 at 2:53 PM with the headline "Patterson man sentenced to federal prison for real estate fraud."