(Alexandria, Virginia) – Khalil Salim Arbid, 35, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today on charges of mail fraud in connection with a mortgage refinancing scheme that took place from approximately June 2007 to November 2007. Senior United States District Judge James C. Cacheris sentenced Arbid to 16 months in prison, 3 years supervised release, and ordered him to pay $650,613.61 in restitution. Chuck Rosenberg, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Joseph Persichini, Jr., Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Washington Field Office; Guy J. Cottrell, Postal Inspector in Charge, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Washington Division; Jeffrey Irvine, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Secret Service, Washington Field Office; and, Eric M. Thorson, Inspector General, Small Business Administration, announced the sentencing.
According to court documents, Arbid fraudulently attempted to obtain approximately $1,996,131.02, and successfully obtained $670,132.02, through the refinancing scheme. To carry out the scheme, Arbid took ownership of a residential property located in Vienna, Virginia by deed of gift. When Arbid obtained the property, it was encumbered by a pre-existing mortgage loan. Then, on three occasions, he attempted to obtain additional mortgage loans on the property, using the property as collateral. In applying for the loans, he provided the would-be lenders with false documentation. For example, Arbid provided false loan-payoff statements purporting to be from current mortgagees, and false Certificates and Affidavits of Satisfaction purporting to be from prior mortgagees. On one occasion, he successfully refinanced the property and obtained a loan in the amount of $670,132.02. He then arranged for $376,191.87 of the loan proceeds to be misdirected to himself by causing the title company closing the loan to send a check for the proceeds, which were ostensibly to be used to pay off the pre-existing mortgage on the property, to a false address. In reality, the address was a commercial mail drop located in the District of Columbia. The check was endorsed and deposited into a bank account that Arbid had previously opened.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, U.S. Secret Service, and Small Business Administration. Assistant United States Attorney Thomas H. McQuillan and Special Assistant United States Attorney Dennis Early of the Office of the United States Trustee prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.
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