(NewsNation) — A man from Maryland was sentenced to three months in prison for stealing a residence in Northwest Washington, D.C., the Department of Justice said Sunday.
Franklin A. Olaitan pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud before U.S. District Court Judge Carl J. Nichols last August, the Department of Justice said in a news release.
According to a statement of offense, Olaitan found a vacant property and forged the true owner’s signature, as well as a notary’s, on several documents to sell the residence to a company he owned.
Authorities say he then prepared and presented these documents to a lender and Maryland settlement company without the owner’s knowledge.
Because Olaitan provided them the false documents, the settlement company filed them with the D.C. recorder of deeds, and he was given a check with the proceeds from the sale of the residence, the DOJ said.
After the purchase was complete, the DOJ said Olaitan immediately resold the property to a third-party buyer who spent at least $600,000 renovating the property. It was only when that third party listed the residence for sale that the real owner of the property realized it had been stolen.
Along with the three years in prison, U.S. District Court Judge Paul L. Friedman on Friday also ordered Olaitan to pay at least $580,663.73 in restitution, a $111,159.63 criminal forfeiture money judgment as well as a $100 assessment.