SAN FRANCISCO — A former FBI employee and his wife were sentenced to 90 days in prison plus six months monitoring and 200 hours of community service for bank fraud, the United States Department of Justice announced Tuesday.
Charles Espinel, 61, and Jeannette Espinel, 59, of Daly City, were both originally charged in June, with one count of bank fraud, according to the DOJ. The couple both pleaded guilty on July 24 and were sentenced Jan. 14.
In separate plea agreements, the couple admitted that, beginning in 2006 and continuing through 2010, they defrauded First California Bank and Wells Fargo Bank in connection with mortgage loans they obtained to purchase a $750,000 rental property in Daly City and a $600,000 rental property in San Bruno, according to the DOJ.
The Espinels admitted that they purchased two rental properties by jointly submitting to banks in June 2006 and April 2007 fraudulent mortgage loan applications in which they knowingly overstated their incomes and falsely claimed that it was their intention to occupy the rental properties as their primary residence.
The Espinels both admitted in their plea agreements that the total loss from their bank fraud was over $83,000.
Charles Espinel worked for the FBI as a file clerk and support services technician from 1979 until 2012, when he took an early retirement because of the federal investigation.
In a statement filed in federal court before his sentencing, Charles Espinel wrote “I want to assume my responsibility and to apologize for my involvement in this offense. What I’ve done is terrible and wrong. I have worked for almost 33 years with joy and integrity and this mistake has destroyed my personal life and career. The effects of my wrong actions will stay with me and our family for the rest of our lives.”
Contact Mark Gomez at 408-920-5869. Follow him at Twitter.com/markmgomez.
