Ashburn Realtor Convicted in $7 Million Mortgage Fraud Scheme

ALEXANDRIA, VA—Nadin Samnang, 29, of Ashburn, Virginia, has been convicted by a federal jury for his role in fraudulent mortgage loan transactions involving at least 25 homes in Northern Virginia and more than $7 million in losses to lenders. Samnang is a District of Columbia real estate developer and was formerly a realtor with Monorom Realty and Fairfax Realty in Virginia.

Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Daniel Cortez, Inspector in Charge of the Washington Division of the United States Postal Inspection Service; and James W. McJunkin, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, made the announcement after the verdict was accepted by United States District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee.

Samnang was convicted on April 27, 2012 of conspiracy, nine counts of wire fraud, and two counts of mail fraud. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years on each count when he is sentenced on July 20, 2012. Samnang was indicted on December 13, 2011.

According to court records and evidence at trial, from 2006 to 2008, Samnang used his position as a realtor and the owner of a title company to engage in a scheme to defraud mortgage lenders and profit from loan proceeds, commissions, and bonus payments. Samnang and other members of the conspiracy recruited unqualified buyers—usually individuals with good credit but insufficient assets or income to qualify for a particular loan—and used them as nominal purchasers in residential real estate transactions. As part of the conspiracy and fraud scheme, Samnang and others falsified mortgage loan applications, created fake documents to support the fraudulent applications, and added the unqualified buyers as signatories on their bank accounts to make it appear to lenders as though the buyers possessed sufficient assets to qualify for the loans.

As part of the scheme, Samnang would often profit by flipping properties owned by him and his family members to these unqualified buyers using fraudulent loan documents. When Samnang’s promise of flipping the properties to other purchasers a few months down the line failed to be fulfilled, and when the kickbacks given to the buyers to fund mortgage payments were exhausted, the unqualified buyers promptly defaulted on their loans and the properties went into foreclosure. Samnang would also profit by arranging for cash-out refinances to be done for these borrowers, retaining most of the loan proceeds for himself, and paying kickbacks to the loan officer who had processed the fraudulent loans.

This ongoing investigation is being conducted by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the FBI’s Washington Field Office. Assistant United States Attorneys Paul J. Nathanson and Kosta S. Stojilkovic are prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.