A Citrus Heights real estate agent was sentenced Monday to three years in prison for making false statements on loan applications from 2006 through 2008.
Dianna Woods, 60, was a licensed real estate agent working for VLD Realty, which did business at Trade House USA. The company built and sold homes in Sacramento, Carmichael and Copperopolis.
When the real estate market started getting weak in 2006, the company offered to support potential buyers by paying their down payment or making them payments after the transaction, neither of which payment type was disclosed to mortgage lenders.
Woods bought two homes based on the undisclosed kickbacks. She also submitted loan applications with false information about her income, employment, assets, purpose for the purchase and whether the down payment was borrowed. In addition, she assisted another buyer in making false statements to get loans to buy two other homes.
Banks suffered nearly $2 million in losses due to her fraudulent transactions, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office in Sacramento.
The case was investigated by the FBI and the IRS’s criminal investigation department.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Shelley Weger and Todd Pickles prosecuted.