Former Maryland Loan Officer Pleads Guilty to Mortgage Fraud and Identity Theft

ALEXANDRIA, VA—Kenneth H. DiPasquale, 37, of Morgantown, West Virginia, pleaded guilty on January 25, 2013, to conspiracy to commit mail, wire, and bank fraud, and aggravated identity theft in connection with his role in fraudulent mortgage loan transactions, including the sale of his own home to a buyer whose identity he had stolen and to whom he “sold” the property for a nearly $320,000 profit.

Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Debra Evans Smith, Acting Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office; and Gary Barksdale, Inspector in Charge of the Washington Division of the United States Postal Inspection Service, made the announcement after the plea was accepted by United States District Judge Anthony J. Trenga.

DiPasquale faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison on the conspiracy charge and a mandatory consecutive sentence of two years on the identity theft charge when he is sentenced on May 10, 2013.

According to court records, DiPasquale was employed in 2007 as a loan officer at Citywide Mortgage, a mortgage lender located in Landover, Maryland. DiPasquale used that position to process loans based on false and fraudulent information, including for borrowers who had not even applied for loans and who had no idea their names and identities had been used as the borrowers in the transactions. In particular, when DiPasquale had trouble selling his own home in Bowie, Maryland, in October 2007, he stole the identity of an individual living in Arlington, Virginia, and “sold” this victim his house at a nearly $320,000 profit. The transaction involved fraudulent loan documents and an associate playing the role of the buyer at closing. The victim had no idea the property had been purchased in his name until the loans defaulted, the lenders came collecting, and the homeowner’s association sued the unsuspecting victim for unpaid dues.

Co-defendant Lyle C. Williams pleaded guilty to conspiracy and identity theft charges on November 8, 2012, and will be sentenced on February 15, 2013.

This case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Assistant United States Attorneys Paul J. Nathanson and Chad Golder are prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.justice.gov/usao/vae.