Former Maryland Loan Officer Sentenced to 42 Months in Prison for Mortgage Fraud and Identity Theft

ALEXANDRIA, VA—Kenneth H. DiPasquale, 38, of Morgantown, West Virginia, was sentenced today to 42 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for his role in a series of fraudulent mortgage loan transactions, including one in which he stole an individual’s identity and “sold” that individual his home for a nearly $320,000 profit. DiPasquale was also ordered to pay a total of $3,354,773 in restitution to his victims and to forfeit $529,098 in proceeds from his crimes.

Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Valerie Parlave, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office; and Gary R. Barksdale, Inspector in Charge of the Washington Division of the United States Postal Inspection Service, made the announcement after sentencing by United States District Judge Anthony J. Trenga. DiPasquale previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy and aggravated identity theft charges on January 25, 2013.

According to court records, DiPasquale was employed in 2007 as a loan officer at Landover, Maryland mortgage lender Citywide Mortgage. DiPasquale used that position to process loans based on false and fraudulent information, including for borrowers who had not applied for loans and who had no idea their names and identities had been used as borrowers in the transactions. In particular, DiPasquale processed fraudulent loans in exchange for kickbacks from a co-conspirator. When he 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. He also engineered a series of transactions involving a homeowner in Hyattsville, Maryland, whom he swindled out of over $193,000.

Co-conspirator Nadin Samnang, a former Virginia realtor and title company owner, was convicted of mortgage fraud-related charges following a trial in April 2012 and was sentenced to 84 months in prison. Co-defendant Lyle C. Williams pleaded guilty to conspiracy and identity theft charges in November 2012 and was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

This case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Assistant United States Attorney Paul J. Nathanson prosecuted 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.