A Portland, Ore., man pleaded guilty to perpetrating a bank fraud scheme whereby he used a residential property he did not own as collateral for obtaining a bank loan worth more than $316,000.
Alireza Zamanizadeh, aka Ali Zamani, 63, waived indictment and pleaded guilty to bank fraud.
According to court documents, on or about Feb. 17, 2017, Zamanizadeh filed a quitclaim deed in Deschutes County, transferring a residential property in Bend, Ore., to his business for one dollar without the property owner’s consent. A quitclaim deed is a document used to quickly transfer the ownership of real property from one party to another.
Zamanizadeh then used the property as collateral for obtaining a loan worth $316,092. Zamanizadeh forged the property owner’s signature on a statement verifying the property transfer as required by the mortgage lender and title company processing the loan. Based on Zamanizadeh’s false representations, the mortgage company approved the loan and transferred the funds to Zamanizadeh’s bank account.
On June 14, 2021, Zamanizadeh was charged by criminal information with bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.
Zamanizadeh will be sentenced on Jan. 4, 2022, before U.S. District Court Judge Anna Brown.
As part of the plea agreement, Zamanizadeh has agreed to pay $400,000 in restitution to his victim and has transferred a second residential property in Clark County, Wash., back to the victim.
Acting U.S. Attorney Scott Erik Asphaug of the District of Oregon made the announcement. The case was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation with assistance from FBI and is being prosecuted by Katherine A. Rykken, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.