Loan Officer at Hackensack firm pleads guilty in mortgage fraud scheme

BY PETER J. SAMPSON, NorthJersey.com

NEWARK – A former loan officer at a Hackensack real estate firm is facing prison time after admitting she devised a scheme to fraudulently obtain $495,000 in mortgage loans in the name of an unsuspecting co-worker, authorities said.

Monica Cardona, 39, of Upper Saddle River, pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges during a hearing Tuesday before U.S. District Judge William H. Walls.

Between August 2006 and May 2008, Cardona arranged to obtain loans from IndyMac Bank by submitting false mortgage loan applications and supporting documents in the name of an office cleaning woman. The woman had provided her birth date and social security number after being convinced that buying property was in her interest, but was not aware of the scheme, authorities said.

The bogus documents included inflated income and asset statements and false employment verifications to induce the lender to approve primary and secondary loans of $396,000 and $99,000, respectively, for the purchase a home in Westwood that Cardona owned.

Cardona, who is currently unemployed, could face a maximum statutory term of up to 30 years in prison, but under a plea-bargain agreement her sentence would more likely range from eight to 14 months.

Cardona was released on $100,000 unsecured bond pending sentencing May 3.