Manteca Residents Allegedly Targeted Immigrants
September 21, 2009
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A Manteca mother and daughter are facing federal charges of conducting a mortgage fraud scheme that caused lenders to lose about $5 million.
Arrest warrants for Helen Sotiriadis, 49, and Irene Sotiriadis, 23, were issued Sunday afternoon by U.S. Magistrate Judge Gregory G. Hollows after a special agent of the FBI received information that the two women may have been intending to flee to Greece.
A criminal complaint against the pair was filed Monday in connection with the scheme, which prosecutors said was carried out from March 2006 through November 2007.
An affidavit alleges that both women recruited as many as 25 members of the Cambodian immigrant community to purchase homes they could not afford in and around Stockton and Modesto. The pair then allegedly promised the Cambodians that after one initial high monthly payment, the homes would be refinanced to a payment of only $1,500 per month.
After the initial monthly mortgage payments of $4,000 came due, the Sotiriadises refused to return phone calls to the victims, according to the affidavit. Most of the homes quickly fell into foreclosure.
An arraignment and detention hearing was set to be held in Sacramento on Monday afternoon before Hollows.
The maximum statutory penalty for a violation of the federal mail fraud and wire fraud statutes is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, the government said.
The case is the product of a joint investigation by the FBI and the San Joaquin County District Attorney's Office.
September 21, 2009
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A Manteca mother and daughter are facing federal charges of conducting a mortgage fraud scheme that caused lenders to lose about $5 million.
Arrest warrants for Helen Sotiriadis, 49, and Irene Sotiriadis, 23, were issued Sunday afternoon by U.S. Magistrate Judge Gregory G. Hollows after a special agent of the FBI received information that the two women may have been intending to flee to Greece.
A criminal complaint against the pair was filed Monday in connection with the scheme, which prosecutors said was carried out from March 2006 through November 2007.
An affidavit alleges that both women recruited as many as 25 members of the Cambodian immigrant community to purchase homes they could not afford in and around Stockton and Modesto. The pair then allegedly promised the Cambodians that after one initial high monthly payment, the homes would be refinanced to a payment of only $1,500 per month.
After the initial monthly mortgage payments of $4,000 came due, the Sotiriadises refused to return phone calls to the victims, according to the affidavit. Most of the homes quickly fell into foreclosure.
An arraignment and detention hearing was set to be held in Sacramento on Monday afternoon before Hollows.
The maximum statutory penalty for a violation of the federal mail fraud and wire fraud statutes is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, the government said.
The case is the product of a joint investigation by the FBI and the San Joaquin County District Attorney's Office.
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