Crooked Foreclosure Man Gets 15 Months

SANTA ANA, Calif. (CN) - A former Fannie Mae employee was sentenced Monday to 15 months in federal prison for taking kickbacks from a real estate broker who sold properties on behalf of the mortgage agency.

Armando Granillo, 45, of Huntington Beach, worked in Fannie Mae's Irvine office. He was convicted at trial in March of three counts of honest-services wire fraud for soliciting kickbacks, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

As a "real estate owned foreclosure specialist" for Fannie Mae, Granillo had the power to approve sales offers from brokers who wanted to sell Fannie Mae foreclosures. He asked a Tucson real estate broker for kickbacks, and the broker reported him to law enforcement, prosecutors said in a statement.

In February 2012, Granillo traveled from Orange County to meet the broker in Arizona, asked for 20 percent kickbacks, promised him multiple listings, and said that kickbacks were a "natural part of business," prosecutors said.

The meeting was recorded. Granillo was arrested on March 5, 2013, after taking an $11,200 payment from the broker.

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