United States v. Maria Sanchez

MEMORANDUM

Maria Sanchez was convicted of fourteen counts of an indictment of which two counts, charging her with aggravated identity theft, provide the primary basis of this appeal. Briefly, the evidence at trial established that, between 2003 and 2007, Sanchez participated in a scheme to defraud four mortgage lenders. During the course of the scheme, Sanchez, in her capacity as a mortgage loan officer, prepared and submitted false loan applications on behalf of her sister and her sister-in-law. As part of this scheme, Sanchez prepared and submitted false loan applications to WMC Mortgage Corporation for first and second mortgages on behalf of her sister. On those applications, Sanchez misrepresented material facts.

Sanchez knew that the mortgage applications stood a better chance of success if her name did not appear as her sister’s interviewer. Consequently, without authorization, she forged the signature of a mortgage broker at her firm. A year later, Sanchez prepared and submitted other, comparably false loan applications to refinance the property. This time, she forged the signature of another person as the interviewer. The two counts charging Sanchez with aggravated…