Two men are accused of falsely trying to get a $6 million loan by using a vacant $10 million lot, marked at left, in Gables Estates.
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Two men are accused of trying to obtain a $6 million loan while using forged foreign passports in the names of a father and son who own a nearly one-acre waterfront lot valued at $10 million in Coral Gables, according to a federal criminal complaint.
Francisco Granati Poloni, 52, and Jackson Kelwin Ortuno, 42, who were ordered detained after their first appearances in Miami federal court on Thursday, will have their arraignment on March 26 on charges of making a false statement on a loan application and stealing the identities of the father and son. They own the vacant property that is at 230 Arvida Parkway in the exclusive Gables Estates neighborhood and was used for the fraudulent loan application, the complaint says.
In early February, Granati signed a letter of intent in the father’s name to request a “cash-out refinance loan against the property” from a mortgage-lending company, according to an affidavit signed Wednesday by a special agent with the Federal Housing Finance Agency Office of the Inspector General.
As proof of identification, both Granati and Ortuno submitted foreign passports and driver licenses in the names of the father and son, but with facial photos of Granati and Ortuno on them, the affidavit says. In late February, the lender asked Granati for further ID verification, and he uploaded a scan of a Spanish passport in the father’s name but with Granati’s face, along with a self-portrait headshot.
“The verification check failed due to ‘suspected tampering,’ “ according to the affidavit.
Then, Granati submitted a Venezuelan passport in the father’s name but again with Granati’s face, along with a self-portrait headshot.
It failed, too, because of “suspected tampering,” the affidavit says.
The lender asked Granati to come to its office in Miami Beach. In early March, Granati arrived with his “girlfriend,” who translated from English to Spanish for Granati, according to the affidavit. Granati introduced himself as the father who owned the Gables Estates property and provided Spanish and Venezuelan passports with the father’s name but with Granati’s face on the documents.
Granati reiterated his desire to obtain the $6 million loan.
Francisco Granati Poloni, left, and Jackson Kelwin Ortuno are accused of assuming the IDs of a father and son who own a $10 million property in Gables Estates. Broward Sheriff’s Office
Last week, the lender notified federal authorities about the suspicious loan application, and they verified that the passports and identifications provided by Granati and Ortuno were “fraudulent,” including “forgeries,” the affidavit says.
Federal investigators contacted the father and son who own the Gables Estates lot, and they said they were unaware of the loan application in their names and that they were “victims of identity theft.”
On Tuesday, both Granati and Ortuno went to the lending office in Miami Beach to close on their loan, according to the affidavit. They signed documents in the loan package, “repeatedly affirming their identity as the owners of the property” in Coral Gables and their desire to close on the mortgage transaction. As proof of identity, both men presented “fraudulent” Spanish passports and driver licenses showing they were trying to impersonate the owners of the Gables Estates lot.
Federal agents arrested Granati and Ortuno and found counterfeit Spanish and Venezuelan passports and driver licenses on them, the affidavit says.
After being advised of their rights, Granati and Ortuno gave statements in which “they confessed to using the fraudulent identifications to obtain the loan and provided details on how they were recruited by co-conspirators to commit the fraud,” according to the affidavit.
Both men also said “they were given the fake identifications, instructed to memorize personally identifiable information of the identity theft victims, and told when and where to show up to impersonate them with the promise of a share of the illicit funds if the fraud was successful.”
This story was originally published March 13, 2026 at 1:11 PM.
Jay Weaver writes about federal crime at the crossroads of South Florida and Latin America. Since joining the Miami Herald in 1999, he’s covered the federal courts nonstop, from Elian Gonzalez’s custody battle to Alex Rodriguez’s steroid abuse. He was part of the Herald teams that won the 2001 and 2022 Pulitzer Prizes for breaking news on Elian’s seizure by federal agents and the collapse of a Surfside condo building killing 98 people. He and three Herald colleagues were 2019 Pulitzer Prize finalists for explanatory reporting on gold smuggling between South America and Miami.