Accused Mortgage Scam Artist Pleads Not Guility

A North County loan officer accused of stealing nearly $1 million in a scam to obtain mortgage funding pleaded not guilty Feb. 14 to federal conspiracy, fraud and money laundering charges.

Simon Saed Alizadeh, 41, was indicted earlier this month along with Kian Ashkanizadeh in connection with the mortgage fraud scheme involving four expensive homes in Carlsbad, prosecutors said.

Ashkanizadeh, 49, was arraigned last week. According to the indictment, the defendants, who worked at a mortgage company called Southern California Finance, recruited family members and friends to supply their names and signatures on mortgage loan applications as the purported buyers for the million-dollar homes. The defendants then fabricated job titles, income and assets of the purported buyers so they could qualify for approximately $1 million in mortgage funding on each of the properties, according to the indictment. According to the indictment, the defendants arranged for $200,000 in sham "consulting fees" to come out of each transaction, and another $45,000 for "construction fees," but no consulting or construction was ever performed.

Instead, the defendants took for themselves most of the extra $245,000 in fees paid out from each of the four transactions, according to prosecutors. According to the indictment, the defendants disguised the funds by first funneling the payments through bank accounts owned by friends and relatives, then had the funds withdrawn or transferred to their own bank accounts. The defendants will be back in court April 3 for a motions hearing before U.S. District Court Judge Irma Gonzalez.

–City News Service