A real estate broker from Chicago was sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois to more than four years in federal prison for his role in a multi-year fraud scheme that cost investors more than $3 million.
Stanislav Sannikov, also known as “Steve Sannikov,” pleaded guilty last year to a federal wire fraud charge. On April 4, U.S. District Joan Humphrey Lefkow ordered Sannikov to pay $2.19 million in remaining restitution to four victims. This came after Lefkow sentenced Sannikov to four years and two months of prison time in February.
Sannikov is the former owner and operator of Chestnut Realty Group, a real estate company in Chicago. From 2016 to 2020, Sannikov fraudulently claimed to investors that certain properties were for sale and that he could negotiate the purchase on their behalf. He further claimed that the properties could be re-sold or leased for a substantial profit.
In reality, Sannikov knew that the properties were not available for sale or lease. Sannikov induced his victims to invest in what he told them was an escrow account maintained by Chestnut Realty. In fact, Sannikov knew that Chestnut Realty was not licensed to act as an escrow agent and that the account was actually a checking account controlled by Sannikov.
Sannikov withdrew the investor funds and spent the money on himself. One victim investor, who is now in his 70s, had to put off retirement so that he could pay off his losses.
“This was not a one-time lapse in judgment,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Sheri Mecklenburg argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum. “Defendant, over the course of at least four years, designed and engaged in a calculated, sustained, multi-faceted scheme to defraud multiple individuals.”