Phoenix Couple Receive Prison Terms for Fraud, Theft

(Phoenix, Ariz. – Aug. 22, 2007) Attorney General Terry Goddard today announced that Anna V. Solis, 38, and her husband Oscar M. Solis, 35, of Phoenix have been sentenced to 2.5 years in prison after pleading guilty to one count of fraud and one count of theft. They also were ordered to pay $48,947 in restitution. Anna Solis was sentenced to five years probation, and Oscar Solis was sentenced to three years probation.

According to court documents, between 2003 and 2005 the defendants altered loan documents from various title agencies and then took the checks associated with the loan documents and cashed them for their personal use. Anna Solis was an escrow officer with LandAmerica Financial Group Incorporated and later with Grand Canyon Title Agency Inc.

While she was employed, Anna Solis would inflate the refinance amount on a customer’s final HUD statement, a document that does not require a customer’s signature. She would submit the initial refinance documents and the final statement to the title agency. When the title company noticed the discrepancy, a second check was issued to cover the difference. Solis would give the second check to her husband to cash.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Sally Duncan sentenced the defendants and also ordered them to perform 100 hours of community service and participate in financial counseling during their probation period. Assistant Attorney General Savita Kasturi prosecuted this case.