SAN FRANCISCO – A former 32-year FBI employee and his wife plead guilty in federal court last week to Bank Fraud, federal officials announced.
Charles Espinel, 61, and his wife Jeannette, 58, both admitted in their separate plea agreements, that beginning in 2006 and continuing through 2010, the two of them 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, Calif. and a $600,000 rental property in San Bruno, Calif.
The Espinels, of Daly City, were charged with one count of Bank Fraud on June 13.
The two are facing up to 30 years in prison and are scheduled for sentencing on Nov. 12, officials said.
The Espinels both admitted in their plea agreements that the total loss from their bank fraud was over $83,000.
The Espinels also admitted that they purchased these 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, according to authorities.
The Espinels also admitted that they subsequently obtained favorable modifications to these loans through fraud, including submitting false Individual Income Tax Returns which they had altered.
Charles Espinel worked as a Support Services Technician in the San Francisco Division of the FBI from May 1979 to February 2012.
Charles Espinel’s professional responsibilities as a FBI Support Services Technician included records and file management technical support, telecommunications and investigative automation support, office management support, and operations security support. As an FBI employee with Top Secret clearance as well as access to sensitive information, he was required annually to file a security financial disclosure form, disclosing certain financial information.
Charles Espinel knew that his FBI supervisors would assess whether he had personal financial problems that might threaten his continued suitability for a Top Secret security clearance. He admitted that he knew that lying on his security forms about his bank accounts and owned real estate would be significant issues of concern for FBI management.
Espinel admitted in his plea agreement that in 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010 he made several false statements and material omissions.
Espinel admitted that he knowingly failed to disclose on those security financial forms his wife’s income, and failed to disclose the real estate properties he owned or the rental income he was receiving from those properties.