Sheriff's Officer Facing Prison For Lying In Sale Of Keansburg Home

KEANSBURG, NJ — A man who used to work as a Hudson County Sheriff’s officer admitted to lying in statements he made to discharge his mortgage on his home in Keansburg, and committing a fraudulent short sale to sell the property, according to U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger.

The former Hudson County Sheriff's officer is Osbado Hernandez, 54, who lives in the Avenel section of Woodbridge.

The home he owned — and became behind on the mortgage payments — is in Keansburg.

On May 22, Hernandez pleaded guilty in Trenton federal court to one count of conspiracy to make false statements in connection with the release of a loan. He is facing up to five years in prison; sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 4, 2023.

Federal prosecutors say that from September 2015 to Dec. 30 of that year, in order to induce a bank to discharge the mortgage he owed on his house in Keansburg, Hernandez agreed with others to lie about a fraudulent short sale of the property, including that he did not have any money to apply toward his mortgage delinquency.

He also lied when he told the bank he did not intend to stay in the house for more than 90 days after the short sale.

As a result of the fraudulent short sale, the bank discharged over $98,000 of debt against Hernandez.

The IRS investigated the case against Hernandez and probed his financial statements.