He is accused of submitting fraudulent loan applications to Wells Fargo
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A federal grand jury has indicted a longtime fugitive for his alleged part in a $9 million mortgage fraud scheme that targeted Wells Fargo bank. Forty-year-old Napoleon Olarte is said to have conspired with two other people, Jose Calle and Nancy Coleman, both of whom have pleaded guilty to the scheme.
Authorities believe Olarte is hiding in Venezuela after fleeing the US some eight years ago.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) said Olarte and Calle allegedly ran a rogue brokerage and escrow company called Fast Escrow.
At that time, Coleman was a mortgage consultant for Wells Fargo. Court documents said she accepted bribes and other favors in exchange for approving approximately $9 million in fraudulent loans for Olarte and Calle.
Olarte is accused of submitting fraudulent loan applications to Wells Fargo that listed false information for borrowers’ income, assets and employment. In relation to some loans financed by Wells Fargo, Olarte and Calle allegedly failed to pay off existing loan holders and failed to record liens in favor of Wells Fargo, leaving the bank with no collateral when the loans defaulted.
Olarte is charged with one count of conspiracy, six counts of bank fraud, and two counts of making false statements to a financial institution. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in federal prison for each of the nine counts.
