Portland Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Bank Fraud Scheme

PORTLAND, Ore.—A Portland man was sentenced to federal prison today for using a residential property he did not own as collateral for obtaining a bank loan worth more than $316,000.

Alireza Zamanizadeh, aka Ali Zamani, 63, was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison and five years’ supervised release. The court also ordered Zamanizadeh to pay $400,000 in restitution to the owner of the property.

According to court documents, on or about February 17, 2017, Zamanizadeh filed a quitclaim deed in Deschutes County, transferring a residential property in Bend, Oregon to his business for one dollar without the property owner’s consent. A quitclaim deed is a document used to quickly transfer the ownership of real property from one party to another. 

Zamanizadeh then used the property as collateral for obtaining a loan worth $316,092 from a mortgage lender and forged the property owner’s signature on a statement verifying the property transfer. Based on his false representations, the mortgage company approved the loan and transferred the funds to Zamanizadeh’s bank account. After Zamanizadeh defaulted on the loan, the true owner of the property purchased the property out of foreclosure for $400,000.

On June 14, 2021, Zamanizadeh was charged by criminal information with bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. On September 14, 2021, he pleaded guilty to bank fraud.

U.S. Attorney Scott Erik Asphaug of the District of Oregon made the announcement.

This case was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation with assistance from the FBI. It was prosecuted by Katherine A. Rykken, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.