Tucson Man Found Guilty In Real Estate Investment Fraud Scheme

            TUCSON, Ariz. – Dino Sisneros, 42, of Tucson, Ariz., after a trial of thirteen days, was found guilty as charged by a federal jury on June 25, 2013. The charges against the defendant included three counts of wire fraud and two counts of transactional money laundering greater than $10,000.  The case was tried before U.S. District Judge Cindy K. Jorgenson who will sentence Sisneros on Sept. 5, 2013. 

            The evidence presented at trial demonstrated that Sisneros orchestrated a real estate investment fraud scheme between 2006 – 2008 during which Sisneros misled investors by promising them high rates of return in exchange for their money which he said would be used to invest in real estate.  However, instead of investing in real estate, he used large portions of his victims’ money for his own personal use, including paying for a ski trip to Colorado; paying a $7,900 hotel bill in Santa Monica, Calif.; car payments for a Cadillac Escalade, Cadillac CTS, two Nissan 350-Z’s, a Nissan Altima, and a Ford Expedition.  The evidence further demonstrated that Sisneros used victim commingled funds toward his own rent payments so he could live in a multimillion dollar, 4-story home with an elevator.  Sisneros received more than $900,000 from his victims but failed to pay his victims in return for their investments as he had promised.   

            A conviction for each count of wire fraud carries a maximum penalty of 20 years, a $250,000 fine or both.  A conviction for each count of transactional money laundering greater than $10,000 carries a maximum penalty of 10 years, a $250,000 fine or both. 

            The investigation in this case was conducted by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation. The prosecution was handled by Jonathan Granoff and Cory Picton, Assistant U.S. Attorneys, District of Arizona, Tucson.

CASE NUMBER:                   CR-12-0174-TUC-CKJ(CRP)
RELEASE NUMBER:            2013-049_Sisneros

For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az