Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez announced the indictment of a seven-year clerical employee of the Town of Cicero as a result of investigations on forged documents for a house loan, led by the new initiative built by State’s Attorney Alvarez, which is the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office – Mortgage Fraud Investigations and Prosecutions Unit.
Mirasol Salazar, 35, is a seven-year clerical employee for the Town of Cicero who has been involved in forging documents in order to increase her income and, ultimately, to acquire a house loan. The defendant has been charged with three counts of Forgery, Financial Institution Fraud, Loan Fraud, Theft, and Theft by Deception. The charges were made to account for her offenses of fabricating her paychecks and W-2 forms to meet the requirements of obtaining a house loan. The defendant reportedly altered her income and inflated it from $30,000 to over $52,000 in order to qualify for a house loan on a Berwyn home. As a result of her fraudulent scheme and the defendant’s failure to settle the mortgage payments for the Berwyn Home, the house fell into foreclosure shortly after.
Mirasol Salazar pled not guilty in court on July 7, 2010, and is bound to appear in court, once again, on August 10, 2010.
Investigations on the case were led by the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office – Mortgage Fraud Investigations and Prosecutions Unit, which State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez claimed to demonstrate the dedication and commitment of the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office to addressing and combating the increasing number of mortgage fraud within the community.
“When we created the Mortgage Fraud Unit, we made a pledge to the people of Cook County that we would aggressively investigate and prosecute these cases. These indictments show we are keeping our commitment and will continue the work we started,” State’s Attorney Alvarez said.
The Mortgage Fraud Investigations and Prosecutions Unit has delegated Assistant State’s Attorneys to each of the Community Justice Center to prosecute and prevent local fraud crimes while working closely with the community and its residents. This approach allows the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office to take proactive and community-based measures towards addressing and combating fraudulent schemes, specifically mortgage fraud.
Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez further asserts the Office’s commitment to eliminating fraudulent schemes within the County. The opening of a third Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office – Community Justice Center West, which shall be a new resource to help with the prosecution of local crimes and fraudulent skills, particularly for the citizens of Chicago’s West Side and the Western Suburbs, was announced by State’s Attorney Anitya Alvarez.
Tips and information on suspected fraud are highly encouraged to be disclosed to the Mortgage Fraud Unit at mortgagefraud@cookcountyil.gov.
With the provided criminal documents containing allegations that are not evidence of guilt, the public is reminded that the defendant shall be presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the state has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Updated: September 7, 2020