Florida woman sentenced in $24 million fraud

A Florida woman is looking at jail time and $415,000 in restitution for her role in a massive scam

A Florida woman has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for her role in a $24 million mortgage fraud scheme.

Elsy Alvarez, 64, was also ordered to pay $415,282 in restitution, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Prosecutors say Alvarez, an employee of the Federal Guaranty Mortgage Company, prepared loan packages and forwarding the documents to financial institutions.

As part of the scam, Alvarez signed multiple loan documents using multiple names and sent them to several different financial institutions – essentially applying for multiple fraudulent loans on a single property. The proceeds of the scam were then wired to the account of a company affiliated with First Guaranty Mortgage. The scam caused about $24 million in losses to lenders, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

First Guaranty Mortgage owner Frank Garcia has also been convicted in the case. He is currently awaiting sentencing.