Real estate agent Samer Salami, 32, of Canton, Mich., was charged with conducting an alleged criminal enterprise from August 2007 until approximately April 2010.
According to a press release from Wayne County Prosecutors Office, Prosecutor Kym Worthy charged Salami for steering Fannie Mae toward low purchase offers from his company or associates.
Salami would get Fannie and Freddie Mac to accept a lower bid than they were originally asking, from a company he was associated with, while simultaneously working on a deal with a bona fide purchaser (BFP) for a higher asking price.
“Salami fraudulently profited from the difference in price between the sale of the property to Trademark Assets (a company that was legally owned by persons known to him) and the subsequent sale to the BFP,” the press report said.
"The charges allege that Salami defrauded Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac out of tens of thousands of dollars and that he wrongfully pocketed additional thousands in real estate commissions,” said Steve Linick, Inspector General at the Federal Housing Finance Agency. “My office is committed to prosecuting individuals and entities who defraud Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac to the fullest extent of the law.”
