Portola Valley Resident Sentenced In Bank Fraud Scheme

SAN FRANCISCO – Mark Migdal was sentenced today to 18 months in prison for conspiracy to commit bank fraud and providing false statements to banks in connection with short sale and loan modification requests, announced Acting United States Attorney Alex G. Tse, Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge John F. Bennett, and Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, Special Agent in Charge Michael T. Batdorf.  The sentence was handed down by the Honorable Vince Chhabria, U.S. District Judge, following Migdal’s entry of a guilty plea on July 25, 2017.

According to his guilty plea, between June 2009 and April 2016, Migdal, 72, of Portola Valley, Calif., conspired to defraud two federally-insured banks, now Bank of America and EverBank.  Migdal admitted the conspirators sought the banks’ approval for a short sale of two condominiums owned by Migdal in Kihei, Maui.  Midgal conspired to convince the banks to allow the properties to be sold in short sales to an individual who was, in reality, deceased.  A short sale is a sale in which a lender allows a property to be sold at a price that is less than the amount owed on the loan.  Thereafter, Migdal controlled and rented the properties using the deceased person’s identity, and later transferred the properties back to himself. Migdal further admitted that, between June 2009 and January 2010, he provided false statements to another federally-insured bank, JP Morgan Chase Bank, in an attempt to obtain mortgage modifications on his residence in Portola Valley, Calif., and a condominium owned by him in Mountain View, Calif.  

On April 27, 2017, a federal grand jury issued a superseding indictment charging Migdal with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, in violation of 18 U.S. C. § 1349; two counts of bank fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1344(1) and (2); one count of aggravated identity theft, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1028A; and two counts of making false statements to a federally insured institution, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1014.  Pursuant to his guilty plea, Migdal pleaded guilty to the conspiracy count, and the two counts of making false statements to a federally insured institution.  The remaining counts were dismissed.

In addition to the term of imprisonment, Judge Chhabria ordered Migdal to serve three years of supervised release and to pay restitution in the following amounts:  $239,519 to Fannie Mae, successor to the deed of trust held by EverBank; $202,491 to Bank of America; and $18,205 to JP Morgan Chase.  In addition, Migdal was also ordered to pay a $1,000,000 fine and to forfeit substitute assets totaling $539,784.98.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Colin Sampson and Erin Cornell.  The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation.