Crime & Safety
Avenel Man, Ex-Sheriff's Officer, Charged With Real Estate Fraud
An Avenel man who used to work as a Hudson County Sheriff's officer was taken into custody Wednesday by the FBI.
AVENEL, NJ — An Avenel man who used to work as a Hudson County Sheriff’s officer was charged by federal prosecutors with making false statements to a bank in connection with an application to discharge (forgive) a mortgage.
The mortgage was for a home short sale in Keansburg that turned out to be fraudulent, said acting U.S. Attorney Rachael Honig.
The Avenel man is Osbado Hernandez, 52. He was charged Wednesday with one count of knowingly making false statements to a bank. The IRS is the agency that primarily investigated the case against him.
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Hernandez appeared Wednesday afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jessica Allen in the Newark federal courthouse and was released on a $100,000 unsecured bond.
As a result of the fraudulent short sale, the bank discharged (forgave) more than $98,000 of debt that Hernandez owed them. However, the IRS says he lied about several things in his application.
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Federal prosecutors say that from September 2015 to Dec. 30, 2015, in order to induce a bank to discharge a mortgage on a property in Keansburg, Hernandez made false statements in connection with a fraudulent short sale of the property, including that he did not have any money to apply toward his mortgage delinquency and that he intended to vacate the property following the short sale.
However, Hernandez did not disclose to the bank that he had funds in a savings account, said U.S. attorneys. Hernandez also signed a sworn affidavit that he would not stay in the property for more than 90 days following the short sale, even though he continued living in the Keansburg home.
He is facing up to 30 years in prison and a maximum fine of up to $1 million.
Here is the unsealed complaint against Hernandez: https://content.govdelivery.co...
The IRS investigated the case against Hernandez. His defense lawyer is Corinne Mullen of Hoboken.
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