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Sylmar Man Pleads Guilty in Fraud Conspiracy

Hamlet Sardariani, who pledged he owned properties in Sherman Oaks, pled guilty to felony conspiracy and tax evasion charges on Tuesday.

A San Fernando Valley man faces multiple years in prison when sentenced in September for his role in a scheme to con banks out of more than $5 million by pledging properties he did not own, some of which were in Sherman Oaks, and fabricating paperwork.

Hamlet Sardariani, 42, of Sylmar pleaded guilty to felony conspiracy and tax evasion charges on Tuesday before  a federal judge in Riverside, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. He had been scheduled to go on trial next week.

Three other members of the conspiracy previously pleaded guilty.

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Hamlet Sardariani's brother -- Henrik Sardariani, 44, of Glendale -- is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 6; Christopher J. Woods, 53, of Beverly Hills will be sentenced July 16; and former escrow officer Wanda Tenney, 66, of South Los Angeles is set to be sentenced Oct. 15.

According to a federal indictment, the Sardarianis created fraudulent deeds of trust, corporate records and other documents to make it appear they held title to properties in Sherman Oaks, Glendale and Burbank.

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The brothers fabricated documents to create the impression that other loans on the properties had been paid off and that there was sufficient equity to secure the new loans, according to the government.

The bogus paperwork bore forged signatures and fraudulent stamps of notaries public, according to the indictment, which states that Tenney's Axcess Escrow company helped process the documents.

In addition to the conspiracy charge, Hamlet Sardariani pleaded guilty to tax evasion stemming from his failure to pay taxes on the more than $300,000 in income he received through the loan fraud scheme.

He faces a possible maximum of 10 years in federal prison when he is sentenced Sept. 10 by U.S. District Judge Virginia A. Phillips.

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