Fugitive Scamming Nuns

FBI Captures New Jersey Fugitive Charged with Scamming Nuns 

U.S. Attorney’s OfficeFebruary 27, 2012

Eastern District of Pennsylvania(215) 861-8200

PHILADELPHIA—Adriano Sotomayor, 54, of Margate, New Jersey, was captured today in Las Vegas, Nevada, by the FBI Fugitive Squad, announced United States Attorney Zane David Memeger. Sotomayor is a defendant in a 13-count wire fraud indictment¹ returned by a federal grand jury in Philadelphia. He has been a fugitive since November 16, 2011, one day after he was charged with 13 counts of wire fraud. The indictment alleges that defendant Sotomayor defrauded members of the Dominican Sisters of the Rosary of Fatima (“Sisters of Fatima”), and others, between May 2009 and June 2011.

According to the indictment, the defendant launched his scheme by causing an elderly nun to believe that she had been named in a will as the beneficiary of an estate estimated at approximately $2.1 million. In order to lure the elderly nun into this scheme, the defendant caused his victim to believe that the man who notified her about the will was a Catholic priest from New Jersey, and the testator was one of his parishioners.

The indictment contends that the defendant fraudulently induced the elderly nun to begin sending money to him in Atlantic City, New Jersey, by telling her that she needed to pay taxes, processing fees, and various legal fees associated with the fictitious will. According to the indictment, the defendant went on to target other victims in Levittown and Philadelphia who initially sent money to the defendant on the elderly nun’s behalf. According to the indictment, the defendant caused at least 24 victims to send a total of at least $439,153 from Pennsylvania and elsewhere to him in New Jersey over a two year period. The defendant received wire transfers at the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino, the Showboat Hotel and Casino, and Bally’s Park Place, among other places.

If convicted the defendant faces a maximum possible sentence of 260 years’ imprisonment, a $3.25 million fine, three years of supervised release, and a $1,300 special assessment.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Karen M. Klotz.

¹ An Indictment is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. 

News Release from the FBI, Portland Division

Former Bend-Area Developer Pleads Guilty to $20 Million Bank Fraud 
Cases Relate to the Collapse of Desert Sun Development in Bend, Oregon

U.S. Attorney’s OfficeFebruary 22, 2012

Office of Public Affairs(202) 514-2007/TDD (202)514-1888

EUGENE, OR—Tyler Fitzsimons, 33, appeared before U.S. District Judge Michael R. Hogan on Tuesday, February 21, 2012 and pleaded guilty to a variety of mortgage and loan fraud charges arising out of the collapse of his company, Desert Sun Development (DSD), including conspiracy, bank fraud, and money laundering. From 2004 through 2008, DSD, a company previously headquartered in Bend, Oregon, built commercial structures and residential housing throughout Central Oregon. According to the indictments, DSD principals and other defendants caused financial institutions to lose more than $19 million.

According to court documents, Fitzsimons and others knowingly submitted fraudulent documents, including false financial statements, to various banks in order to obtain financing to develop and construct many of DSD’s commercial projects. Once the loans were approved, Fitzsimons and others submitted additional false documents, including fictitious contracts and invoices, to the banks to obtain loan proceeds for construction costs that were claimed to be associated with the fraudulent documents. Often, no construction had occurred.

Fitzsimons also developed a real estate flipping scheme at DSD. In court records, Fitzsimons admitted, among other things, to undermining the loan approval process for individuals participating in the scheme by “seasoning” or falsely inflating their bank accounts through temporary deposits or undisclosed, short-term loans and by submitting other fictitious documents, including letters explaining employment, large or recent deposits, and bonuses, to the banks funding the loans.

Defendants Shannon Egeland, Jeremy Kendall, Robert Brink, Teresa Ausbrooks, Michael Wilson, and Del Barber, Jr., who are charged in these and related cases previously pleaded guilty and are pending sentencing.

Conspiracy to commit bank fraud carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Bank fraud carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine, and money laundering carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is set before U.S. District Court Judge Michael R. Hogan on October 09, 2012, at 10 a.m.

These cases were investigated by the FBI, IRS-Criminal Investigations, and the Oregon Division of Finance and Corporate Securities. Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott E. Bradford handled the prosecution of the cases.