Bahman Bobby Behzadi, 54, of Bedford was arrested in Lubbock on Friday for a federal bank fraud charge in Los Angeles. He was also charged with identity theft. Court documents were made public in Lubbock federal court on Monday.
Behzadi was accused of a scheme which cost the victim more than $8 million.
The allegations date back to between December 2006 and December 2007. Court documents said other defendants have been arrested, charged and even sentenced to prison already.
A criminal complaint said, “[Behzadi] would apply for Home Equity Line of Credit loans in the names of straw buyers for properties and would inflate their incomes and omit liens on the properties to make it appear that the borrowers could qualify for the loans.”
“[Behzadi] would bribe an official at Washington Mutual, which was then a federally-insured financial institution, to approve the loans,” the complaint said.
“[Behzadi] would divide the proceeds from the loans with his co-conspirators,” court records said.
An arrest warrant against Behzadi was filed on March 24 in Los Angeles. The warrant did not say why it took longer to charge Behzadi than the other defendants. He was interviewed by federal agents in 2012 and admitted to taking $250,000 in commissions from the scheme.
Court records said he also admitted not paying taxes on the money he made in the scheme.
It’s also not clear why he was arrested in Lubbock as opposed to Bedford. EverythingLubbock.com has reached out to local law enforcement in the hopes of getting more information.