A former Connecticut mayoral candidate has pleaded guilty for her part in a multimillion-dollar mortgage fraud scheme.
A former Connecticut mayoral candidate has pleaded guilty for her part in a multimillion-dollar mortgage fraud scheme.
Genevieve Salvatore, 42, admitted in federal court to mail fraud by sending falsified forms to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, according to a report by the Connecticut Post.
Salvatore, a lawyer who ran as the Democratic candidate for mayor of Milford, Conn., in 2009, was one of four attorneys in on the scheme, according to the Post. The other three have each pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges.
According to prosecutors, the attorneys fraudulently obtained mortgages using phony loan applications and falsified documents. Over two years, the four obtained more than 50 mortgages on multifamily homes in New Haven, Conn., listing the sale prices for the homes at anywhere from $30,000 to $145,000 above the actual price. Prosecutors say Salvatore was involved in 13 of the fraudulent closings, and estimate the loss attributable to her at nearly $2.5 million.
Salvatore is currently free on a $100,000 bond. The sentencing recommendations in her plea agreement ask for a prison term of 41 to 51 months and a fine of $15,842, according to the Post. She is scheduled to be sentenced in February.
