Susanville Woman Sentenced to More Than Two Years in Prison for Bank Fraud and Related Offense

SAN FRANCISCO– Generose Casiano Yambao was sentenced to 27 months in prison for bank fraud and making false statements on a loan application in connection with a scheme to defraud a Santa Rosa credit union, announced United States Attorney David L. Anderson and FBI Special Agent in Charge John F. Bennett. The sentence was handed down by the Honorable Charles R. Breyer, U.S. District Judge.

Yambao, 41, of Susanville, California, pleaded guilty to the charges on October 21, 2020.  According to her plea agreement, Yambao admitted that on March 27, 2017, she mailed a Member Business Loan Application to a credit union in Santa Rosa, Calif., attempting to obtain a $49,500 loan for an existing company.  The application was made in the name of one company that purportedly was doing business under the name of another company.  Yambao represented that she was the managing partner and co-owner of one of the companies, however, she did not have authorization or permission to act on behalf of either company.  Documents filed in the case by the government establish that the credit union detected that the application was fraudulent after discovering that it was mailed from a county jail where Yambao was serving a sentence for a prior offense.

A federal grand jury indicted Yambao on August 29, 2019, charging her with one count each of bank fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1344(1); making a false statement on a loan and credit application, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1014; and aggravated identity theft, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1028A.  Yambao pleaded guilty to the first two counts. 

In addition to the prison term, Judge Breyer also ordered Yambao to serve three years of supervised release, to begin after the prison term ends.  Judge Breyer ordered Yambao to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on or before February 15, 2021, to begin serving her prison term.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Pastor is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Marina Ponomarchuk.  The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the FBI with assistance from the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office.