Mortgage Fraud Unit announces indictment

A clerical employee for the Town of Cicero has been indicted for forging documents in order to inflate her income in order to obtain a home loan following an investigation by the Cook County State’s Attorney’s newly formed Mortgage Fraud Investigations and Prosecutions Unit, State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez announced yesterday.

According to prosecutors, Mirasol Salazar, 35, a seven-year clerical employee for the Town of Cicero, was charged with altering her pay stubs and W-2 forms to inflate her income from $30,000 to over $52,000 in order to qualify for a loan on a Berwyn home. The house fell into foreclosure when the defendant failed to make mortgage payments. The defendant was indicted on charges of Financial Institution Fraud, Theft, Theft by Deception, Loan Fraud, and three counts of Forgery.

Alvarez said the indictments signal the commitment of the State’s Attorney’s Office to address the growing problems of mortgage fraud at the local level.

“When we created the mortgage fraud unit we made a pledge to the people of Cook County that we would aggressively investigate and prosecute these cases,” said Alvarez. “These indictments show we are keeping our commitment and will continue the work we started.”

The defendant appeared in court and pled not guilty and the case was continued to August 10.

Alvarez also announced that residents of Chicago’s West Side and the Western Suburbs will have a new resource in the fight against mortgage fraud with the opening of a third State’s Attorney Community Justice Center in Oak Park.

Assistant State’s Attorneys in the Mortgage Fraud Unit are assigned to each Community Justice Center to help them work closely with residents, taking a proactive, community based approach the handling of thse cases.

Individuals with tips on suspected fraud are encouraged to email the Mortgage Fraud Unit at mortgagefraud@cookcountyil.gov.

The public is reminded that criminal charges are not evidence of guilt. The defendants are entitled to a fair trial in which the state has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.