Chicago real estate broker sentenced to 50 months in prison for $3 million fraud scheme
A Chicago real estate broker is headed to federal prison for scamming investors out of more than $3 million.
Stanislav "Steve" Sannikov, 42, was sentenced to four years and two months in prison on Friday, after pleading guilty last year to a federal wire fraud charge.
Sannikov owned Chestnut Realty Group, and prosecutors said from 2016 to 2020, he promised big profits on fake property deals – convincing victims to wire money into what he claimed were escrow accounts.
Prosecutors said those accounts were just personal checking accounts he used to fund a lavish lifestyle.
Sannikov had lied to his victims by telling them they were investing in properties that were for sale, and that could be resold or leased for a substantial profit, when the properties were not actually available for sale.
One victim in his 70s was forced to delay his retirement due to his losses.
"This was not a one-time lapse in judgment," Assistant U.S. Attorney Sheri H. Mecklenburg argued in the government's sentencing recommendation. "Defendant, over the course of at least four years, designed and engaged in a calculated, sustained, multi-faceted scheme to defraud multiple individuals."
In addition to his prison sentence, Sannikov must pay $2.19 million in restitution to four victims of his scam.