Corona woman sentenced to prison for fraud tied to Irvine real estate work

A former Federal National Mortgage Association, or Fannie Mae, employee was sentenced Tuesday to six years and four months in prison for a scheme that resulted in more than $120 million in sales and more than $3 million in corrupt commissions to brokers, federal prosecutors said.

Shirene Hernandez, 47, of Corona, took bribes and arranged discounted sales of Fannie Mae-owned properties to herself and real estate brokers in exchange for cash kickbacks. Hernandez was ordered to pay $982,516 in restitution to Fannie Mae.

Her trial lasted five days in February 2019, and a jury found Hernandez guilty of two counts of wire fraud.

Hernandez worked as a sales representative for Fannie Mae in Irvine from 2010 to 2015. Prosecutors said the brokers who benefited from sales from Hernandez paid  her in cash, which was sometimes stuffed into envelopes and delivered to parking lots, airports and coffee shops.

Fannie Mae is a government-sponsored enterprise and publicly traded company that buys loans from financial institutions.

Officials said Hernandez’s position as a sales representative tasked her with picking real estate agents to whom she assigned Fannie Mae-owned property listings.

Prosecutors said Hernandez used intermediaries and alter egos to buy at least one Fannie Mae-owned property in Sonoma for herself at a below-market price.

“She ensured that multiple offers higher than her own were rejected,” officials said in a statement. “Hernandez then paid for the property using a duffel bag filled with $286,450 in cash, which she gave to her sister-in-law to bring to the sale’s closing.”

Hernandez also helped multiple family members become Fannie Mae-approved brokers, prosecutors said. She then steered nearly $80 million in listings to them, resulting in nearly $2 million in commissions in less than three years.

Hernandez initially pleaded not guilty to charges in 2018.