Glendale Man Sentenced for Mortgage Fraud in Carmichael

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — U.S. District Judge Garland E. Burrell Jr. sentenced Koryun Hakobyan, 64, of Glendale, to two years in prison for his role as a straw buyer in a mortgage fraud scheme, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.

According to court documents, Hakobyan was recruited to act as a purchaser of a house in Carmichael. Hakobyan signed the loan application that was prepared for him, although he knew that the information in the application was false. Based on the false information about Hakobyan’s income, assets, employment and intent to occupy the house on July 3, 2007, the lender agreed to 100 percent financing and wired approximately $824,000 to buy the house.

Hakobyan never lived in the house, and instead, another person moved in. Two months after the purchase, Hakobyan applied for a $200,000 Home Equity Line of Credit based on a fraudulent application that misrepresented his length of ownership, his employer, gross monthly income and the outstanding loan balance. Once Hakobyan received the HELOC, he withdrew the money and transferred most of it to his daughter and son-in-law.

Because of Hakobyan’s fraudulent loan applications, banks lent more than a million dollars, and when he defaulted, the lenders lost approximately $580,000.

This case was the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lee S. Bickley prosecuted the case.