On Tuesday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida announced the return of an indictment that indicts Rose Esquilin Rios, 34, of Winter Haven, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
The indictment alleges that Esquilin Rios obtained a mortgage for a residence she shared with her domestic companion, who had been trafficking cocaine in the Middle District of Florida since at least July 2020.
The accusation further alleges that her partner, following an interview with agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration in March 2022, closed his bank account, sold a property that had been acquired with drug proceeds, and transferred the profits from the sale to an account in Esquilin Rios’s name.
The indictment also alleges that Rose Esquilin Rios submitted false documents to the lender during the summer of 2022, during which she applied for a mortgage on a new property, claiming an annual income of $127,631.
Furthermore, she submitted a false monthly income of $8,179.17 as a delivery driver in a Uniform Residential Loan Application to the same lender.
According to the indictment, both claims were knowingly false, and the funds in question came from the sale of the property that her partner had bought using drug proceeds.
According to the indictment, Esquilin Rios ultimately obtained a loan of $368,207 as a result of these fraudulent representations.
Rose Esquilin Rios is subject to a maximum penalty of 30 years in federal incarceration if she is found guilty. The indictment also informs Rios that the United States intends to forfeit $368,207, which are alleged to be traceable to the proceeds of the offense, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
A defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proved guilty in a court of law, and an indictment is merely a formal charge. It is crucial to remember this.