Borrower Indicted for Falsifying Assets in 2007

If you lied, fudged, or blurred the truth on your mortgage loan application during the boom years of easy, easy credit, then Alberto Solaroli’s recent indictment may have you concerned. Solaroli was recently indicted on charges that he borrowed “on false pretenses” from OneBanc in April 2007. He claimed to be the owner of energy patents that placed his net worth around $170 million and also claimed additional assets in excess of a million dollars. Solaroli used these purported assets to obtain a loan for $1.5 million from One Bank & Trust[1]. He used to money to finance a $900,000 payment to Porche Motorsport and never made a single payment on the loan; One Bank sued him in 2008 and obtained a civil judgment for the entire bulk of the loan. He was sued for bank fraud this year.

Solaroli is a Canadian citizen and was approved for the loan on the sole basis of a sworn financial statement[2]. Some sources have suggested that Solaroli’s indictment may be related to the indictment of Daniel Sweet, former vice president and controller at One Bank, on 30 counts of bank fraud and 30 counts of money laundering.

Of course, most borrowers who obtained stated-income loans did not borrow more than $1 million, but if Solaroli could be indicted for his borrowing on false pretenses, does it concern you that other, “smaller-time” borrowers could be next?