Annandale Mortgage Broker Sentenced to 38 Months for Bank Fraud, Identity Theft

Kil Seok (“Michael”) Seo, 49, formerly of Fairfax, was sentenced Thursday to 38 months in prison for engaging in bank fraud and aggravated identity theft as part of a mortgage fraud scheme. Seo also was ordered to pay restitution of $894,600 to several banks that were the victims of Seo’s criminal conduct.

Seo was indicted on Dec. 10, 2009, by a federal grand jury on charges related to a scheme to defraud mortgage lenders, and he entered a guilty plea in U.S. District Court on Jan. 14, 2014.

According to court records, Seo, an Annandale mortgage broker, schemed with others, including Peter Jin, to defraud lenders by transferring title to residential properties into the names of victims without their knowledge or consent and then opening home equity lines of credit in victims’ names, again without their knowledge or consent. 

Seo and Jin then opened bank accounts in the victims’ names for the purpose of receiving the fraudulently obtained loan proceeds. As part of the scheme, Seo obtained from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles an identification card in the name of a victim but with Seo’s photo. He used that fraudulent ID to take out a home equity loan in the victim’s name. In total, the scheme resulted in losses to the lenders of nearly $900,000.

In 2009, co-defendant Jin pleaded guilty to mail fraud and aggravated identity theft charges in connection with his role in the offense and was sentenced to 48 months in prison. Seo has resided in South Korea since 2009, and he was extradited to the United States in November 2013 to face the criminal charges contained in the December 2009 indictment.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Timothy D. Belevetz and Mark D. Lytle are prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.