A federal grand jury indicted Raúl A. Morales-Guanill; Rafael Antonio Pina-Nieves, aka “Raphy Pina”; Orlando Javier Sierra-Mercado, aka “Chiquitín,” “Chiqui”; and Wilson Álvarez-Luna as a result of an investigation led by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), announced today United States Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez. FBI agents collaborated during the investigation. The defendants are charged in a 19-count indictment with conspiracy to commit bank fraud, conspiracy and aiding and abetting to submit false statements to a financial institution, and money laundering.
According to the indictment, the defendants conspired and aided and abetted each other and others to submit false statements to a financial institution with the purpose of illegally obtaining money and funds in excess of $4 million from Doral Mortgage, a wholly owned subsidiary of Doral Bank of Puerto Rico. The defendants knowingly engaged and attempted to engage in monetary transactions affecting interstate or foreign commerce in criminally derived property greater than $10,000.
The indictment alleges that on December 2007, Morales-Guanill entered into a sales contract with Sierra-Mercado for the sale of residential property Harbour Lights Estates #7 in Palmas del Mar, Humacao. Sierra-Mercado applied for a loan at Doral Mortgage and falsely represented his income, his marital status, the purpose of the purchase of the residential property, and his source of income. As part of his loan application, he also submitted a false investment account statement which belonged to RAP Development Inc., a corporation owned by Pina-Nieves.
FBI press release link: here