Floridian Charged in Fraud Scheme
| U.S. Attorney’s Office August 18, 2011 |
PITTSBURGH—Alfredo Sararo, III, a resident of Naples, Fla., has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on seven counts of wire fraud and four counts of filing false income tax returns, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.
The 11-count superseding indictment named, Sararo, 41, as the sole defendant.
According to the indictment presented to the court, Sararo participated in a fraud scheme designed to solicit investors to purchase Florida real estate, and to lenders to lend money for the purchase of Florida real estate based on a series of misrepresentations. The indictment further alleges that Sararo directed that an individual falsely notarize deeds; that Sararo directed that another individual call an investor and falsely claim that he represented individuals interested in purchasing the investor’s properties; that Sararo made several misrepresentations to an investor; and that Sararo requested that another individual signed a backdated document falsely representing that the individual was interested in purchasing one of the investor’s properties. The indictment further alleges that Sararo participated in a scheme to defraud a lender by assisting in the submission of a loan application that falsely represented the application’s financial condition.
The indictment also alleges that Sararo filed false federal income tax returns and false federal amended income tax returns for the calender years 2004 and 2005 in that he failed to accurately report his income.
The law provides for a maximum total sentence of 152 years in prison, a fine of $2,750,000, or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
Assistant United States Attorney Brendan T. Conway is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
The Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation leading to the indictment in this case.
An indictment is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.