Montgomery County Mortgage Scammer Sentenced To 7 Years

A mortgage scammer in Montgomery County is sentenced to 7 years in prison after preying upon Latino families with the promise of bailing them out of tough financial situations.

Scammer Carlos Sanchez, also known as Wilson Hernandez is known in the area for wearing flashy purple suits and driving a fancy car. He used this upscale persona to steal more than $50,000 from vulnerable homeowners during the height of the mortgage crisis.

Jose Molina said Sanchez offered him a low-interest loan that he couldn't refuse. "He promised me he was going to get me a loan of $1 million," says Molina.

Molina, who has an economics degree, says he felt confident in the transaction.

"I got so frustrated because actually we lost the current business, and we lost the projection that we had toward the new business," say Molina, who lost $6,000 in the scam and the lease on his small business.

State's Attorney John McCarthy says Sanchez promised them loans without the hassle of going through a bank or government agency.

"By its design, it targeted these individuals with the thought that the people he was targeting would never report their crimes, or bring to the attention of the authorities the fact that they had been milked and scammed of their monies," says McCarthy.

Two Montgomery county victims also lost their homes in the scam.