4:29 p.m. EST, January 5, 2011

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/os-mortgage-fraud-cedeno-sentence-20110105,0,7804356.story

A former mortgage officer accused of diverting more than $1 million in company funds to personal accounts was sentenced to five years in federal prison in Orlando on Wednesday, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

Victor Cedeno, 26, of Winter Garden negotiated short sales for Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp.

He pleaded guilty last year to charges of money laundering, conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud and possession of counterfeit private securities.

The allegations against Cedeno came to light during an internal investigation by the mortgage company and a probe by the U.S. Secret Service.

Federal prosecutors say Cedeno and fellow Taylor, Bean & Whitaker employee Richard Nanan operated a skimming scheme.

Cedeno negotiated and approved short sales of foreclosed homes owned by his company with mortgages for about 90 percent of the mortgaged value of properties. But then he falsely reported that he approved the sales at about 80 percent of the mortgaged value, court documents said.

That left 10 percent in false profits to Cedeno, Nanan and Cedeno's girlfriend, Genesis Valdez.

Cedeno and Nanan took checks related to the short sales, altered and signed them, and then deposited them into private accounts. Checks from a shell title company created by Cedeno and Valdez were eventually issued to Taylor, Bean & Whitaker.

In addition to the prison sentence, Cedeno was ordered to forfeit more than $1.3 million.

Nanan and Valdez each pleaded guilty for their role in the scheme. Nanan was sentenced to one year in federal prison and Valdez was sentenced to five months in prison followed by seven months home confinement. The U.S. Attorney's Office said Nanan and Valdez each received reduced sentences for cooperating with the government.