Chicago man sentenced to prison after running four-year real estate scam through Chestnut Realty
A former Chicago real estate broker who ran fake investment deals involving non-existent properties has been sentenced to more than four years in federal prison and ordered to repay over $3 million to his victims.
Stanislav “Steve” Sannikov, 42, who owned and operated Chestnut Realty Group in Chicago, was sentenced in February to four years and two months behind bars. In addition to his prison term, US District Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow ordered Sannikov to pay $2.19 million in restitution to four of his victims.
Sannikov pleaded guilty last year to a federal wire fraud charge. According to prosecutors, between 2016 and 2020, Sannikov falsely told investors he could facilitate the purchase of certain real estate properties, claiming those properties were for sale and could be re-sold or leased at a profit. But in reality, the properties were not available for purchase or lease, and the entire deal was fabricated.
To gain the trust of his victims, Sannikov instructed them to deposit earnest money into what he described as an escrow account maintained by his firm, Chestnut Realty. But the account was not a regulated escrow account, nor was Chestnut Realty licensed to act as an escrow agent. Instead, the funds went into a checking account that Sannikov controlled directly.
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Prosecutors said Sannikov then used the funds to finance his own lavish lifestyle, rather than investing them as promised. One victim, now in his 70s, was forced to postpone retirement after losing a significant portion of his savings to the scam.
“This was not a one-time lapse in judgment,” said Assistant US Attorney Sheri Mecklenburg in a press release. “Defendant, over the course of at least four years, designed and engaged in a calculated, sustained, multi-faceted scheme to defraud multiple individuals.”
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