Owner of Annandale title company pleads guilty to mortgage fraud

Marinay

Jose Marinay, 52, of Annandale, Virginia, pleaded guilty May 27 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud for his involvement in a short sale mortgage fraud conspiracy, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia reports.

Marinay was indicted April 15 by a federal grand jury on multiple charges. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 26 and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

Marinay operated a settlement company in Annandale called Virginia Smart Choice Settlements at 7353 McWhorter Place. The company has been renamed SCS Title & Escrow.

“Marinay helped prepare settlement statements that contained false information relating to liens, realtor commissions, title search fees, attorneys’  fees, title insurance, recording fees, and taxes,” a news release from the court states. “Marinay caused the mortgage settlement statements to be sent to mortgage lenders, and in some instances, he shredded the statements to conceal evidence of the fraudulent transactions.”

According to the statement of facts filed with Marinay’s plea agreement, a co-conspirator used the settlement statements to fraudulently induce mortgage lenders to execute short sales—real estate transactions in which the mortgage lender agrees to accept a price less than the amount owed on the property—on at least seven occasions.

Immediately after the short sale, the co-conspirator sold the property to a new buyer in violation of representations and agreements made with the short sale mortgage lender. As a result of this scheme, the affected financial institutions suffered losses of over $2 million.