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Manteca mom, daughter seized by FBI on mortgage fraud charges
Based on information from a confidential informant on Saturday that a Manteca mother and daughter were about to relocate to Greece, the pair were arrested Sunday evening by FBI agents on federal mortgage fraud charges.
Helen Sotiriadis, 49, and her daughter, Irene Sotiriadis, 23, are accused in a criminal complaint filed Monday morning of ripping off lenders for approximately $5 million in connection with the sales of 30 residential properties to 25 Cambodian nationals.
They inflated the Cambodians' incomes on loan papers and promised them refinancing would drop monthly payments from $4,000 to $1,500, the complaint alleges. But, it alleges, there was no refinancing. The Sotiriadises wouldn't return victims' calls, and the homes went into foreclosure.
At a bail hearing Monday, lawyers for the pair said their clients were going to Greece to support a teenage daughter who qualified as one of 15 finalists out of 800 who tried out for the Greek equivalent of "American Idol," the televised singing contest. The lawyers said there were two auditions this past summer, when the family was in Greece.
A somewhat bemused U.S. Magistrate Judge Gregory G. Hollows refused to rule on the issue of release, instead setting a hearing today at which both sides will present evidence.
Attorneys Matthew Jacobs for Helen Sotiriadis and Chris Wing for Irene Sotiriadis said the arrests and the request of Assistant U.S. Attorney Russell Carlberg for jail with no bail are based on flawed assumptions that the women were poised to flee.
Jacobs said he suspects the government is getting "a lot of information we don't believe to be accurate" from Helen Sotiriadis' brother. The siblings have had "a running feud for 10 or 15 years," he said.
"This is an unfortunate misunderstanding," Jacobs said. The daughter's selection as a finalist "was out of the blue," added Wing.
Jacobs also said that a son is scheduled to be married on Jan. 30 in San Diego, and the family has spent considerable time there preparing for a big Greek wedding. That would make no sense if they did not intend to return, he argued.
He said rehearsals for the televised talent contest start this week on the Mediterranean island country of Cyprus, and the show "goes live the first week in November." Its final segment will air Dec. 30, and the family has a return flight Jan. 7, he said.
Jacobs and Wing said Helen Sotiriadis sold the family's residence in this country and one in Greece to pay their fees.
"Why would somebody pay money to me and then leave?" Wing asked. "It makes no sense."
Hollows said he finds it "remarkable" that the family is able to travel back and forth to Greece and San Diego given the depressed state of the economy – especially the real estate business in which the defendants are engaged – and given that they had to sell two homes to pay the lawyers.
Carlberg argued that extradition from Greece is difficult if not impossible, especially if a fugitive is a Greek citizen. To which Hollows added, "We learned that the hard way."
The judge was referring to the case of Constantine Pappadopoulos, one-time Sacramento developer convicted in 1993 of conspiring to burn down his Arden Oaks mansion for the insurance money. He fled to his native Greece before being sentenced. A family friend and business associate, George Orfanos, was charged with setting the fire, but avoided prosecution by fleeing to his native Greece on the day of the blaze. Greece refused to extradite them.
Wing told Hollows the U.S. attorney's office is "paranoid" about Greece because of that case.
Carlberg said it is unclear whether Helen Sotiriadis, who was born in Greece, has dual citizenship. She claims not to know, he said.
Investigation of Helen and Irene Sotiriadis began in January 2008. Jacobs and Wing have been in talks with prosecutors for a year. There was an agreement that the defense lawyers would be notified before charges were filed.
But then the confidential informant told FBI Special Agent Todd Davis on Saturday that Irene Sotiriadis, her father, John Sotiriadis, and the 15-year-old daughter had plans to fly to Greece this week, "with the intent of moving there permanently," according to a Davis court affidavit. The source further said Helen Sotiriadis planned to follow Oct. 19.
Hollows signed arrest warrants and the complaint brought to him Sunday by Davis
http://www.sacbee.com/topstories/story/2199442.html
Based on information from a confidential informant on Saturday that a Manteca mother and daughter were about to relocate to Greece, the pair were arrested Sunday evening by FBI agents on federal mortgage fraud charges.
Helen Sotiriadis, 49, and her daughter, Irene Sotiriadis, 23, are accused in a criminal complaint filed Monday morning of ripping off lenders for approximately $5 million in connection with the sales of 30 residential properties to 25 Cambodian nationals.
They inflated the Cambodians' incomes on loan papers and promised them refinancing would drop monthly payments from $4,000 to $1,500, the complaint alleges. But, it alleges, there was no refinancing. The Sotiriadises wouldn't return victims' calls, and the homes went into foreclosure.
At a bail hearing Monday, lawyers for the pair said their clients were going to Greece to support a teenage daughter who qualified as one of 15 finalists out of 800 who tried out for the Greek equivalent of "American Idol," the televised singing contest. The lawyers said there were two auditions this past summer, when the family was in Greece.
A somewhat bemused U.S. Magistrate Judge Gregory G. Hollows refused to rule on the issue of release, instead setting a hearing today at which both sides will present evidence.
Attorneys Matthew Jacobs for Helen Sotiriadis and Chris Wing for Irene Sotiriadis said the arrests and the request of Assistant U.S. Attorney Russell Carlberg for jail with no bail are based on flawed assumptions that the women were poised to flee.
Jacobs said he suspects the government is getting "a lot of information we don't believe to be accurate" from Helen Sotiriadis' brother. The siblings have had "a running feud for 10 or 15 years," he said.
"This is an unfortunate misunderstanding," Jacobs said. The daughter's selection as a finalist "was out of the blue," added Wing.
Jacobs also said that a son is scheduled to be married on Jan. 30 in San Diego, and the family has spent considerable time there preparing for a big Greek wedding. That would make no sense if they did not intend to return, he argued.
He said rehearsals for the televised talent contest start this week on the Mediterranean island country of Cyprus, and the show "goes live the first week in November." Its final segment will air Dec. 30, and the family has a return flight Jan. 7, he said.
Jacobs and Wing said Helen Sotiriadis sold the family's residence in this country and one in Greece to pay their fees.
"Why would somebody pay money to me and then leave?" Wing asked. "It makes no sense."
Hollows said he finds it "remarkable" that the family is able to travel back and forth to Greece and San Diego given the depressed state of the economy – especially the real estate business in which the defendants are engaged – and given that they had to sell two homes to pay the lawyers.
Carlberg argued that extradition from Greece is difficult if not impossible, especially if a fugitive is a Greek citizen. To which Hollows added, "We learned that the hard way."
The judge was referring to the case of Constantine Pappadopoulos, one-time Sacramento developer convicted in 1993 of conspiring to burn down his Arden Oaks mansion for the insurance money. He fled to his native Greece before being sentenced. A family friend and business associate, George Orfanos, was charged with setting the fire, but avoided prosecution by fleeing to his native Greece on the day of the blaze. Greece refused to extradite them.
Wing told Hollows the U.S. attorney's office is "paranoid" about Greece because of that case.
Carlberg said it is unclear whether Helen Sotiriadis, who was born in Greece, has dual citizenship. She claims not to know, he said.
Investigation of Helen and Irene Sotiriadis began in January 2008. Jacobs and Wing have been in talks with prosecutors for a year. There was an agreement that the defense lawyers would be notified before charges were filed.
But then the confidential informant told FBI Special Agent Todd Davis on Saturday that Irene Sotiriadis, her father, John Sotiriadis, and the 15-year-old daughter had plans to fly to Greece this week, "with the intent of moving there permanently," according to a Davis court affidavit. The source further said Helen Sotiriadis planned to follow Oct. 19.
Hollows signed arrest warrants and the complaint brought to him Sunday by Davis
http://www.sacbee.com/topstories/story/2199442.html