A Wesley Chapel man has been hit with a prison sentence for his role in a quit claim deed fraud scheme. John Alberto Stolard, 48, received one year and one day behind bars following a sentence passed down by U.S. District Judge Mary S. Scriven. In addition to the jail time, Stolard must forfeit a sizable sum - $747,388.30 to be precise, money that flowed directly from the fraudulent dealings, as per the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Stolard, who had previously pleaded guilty on October 3, 2024, engaged in a conspiracy to commit wire fraud, leveraging quit claim deeds to bilk a victim out of their property rights. The deceptive endeavor saw him illicitly obtaining mortgages on five properties that were never his to claim. Indeed, Stolard knew and once worked with the victim, adding a layer of betrayal to the financial deceit. Notably, he forged the victim-owner's signature on the deeds before filing them, and managed to secure a lofty sum of $827,000 in mortgage loans by this guise.
The U.S. Secret Service's Tampa Field Office fronted the probe into Stolard's scheme, with Special Agent in Charge Robert Engel at the helm. "Through our investigation, we uncovered how selfish greed nearly caused devastating financial losses for an innocent victim," Engel recounted. He didn't skimp on expressing contempt for Stolard's actions, noting how this case was a clear "betrayal of trust," as detailed by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
This judicial conclusion arrives after a collaborative investigation by the Secret Service and the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, with Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer L. Peresie leading the charge on prosecution.
