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Monday, April 30, 2012
San Diego Cemetery Sacrifice Foiled
San Diego Cemetery Sacrifice Foiled: Two San Diego-area women are being applauded for stopping a man accused of slashing the arms of his eight-year-old son because he heard “voices in his head.” The women, Jaymisha Pires and Corey Granberry, both 21, were visiting Mount Hope Cemetery in San Diego Saturday...
California Real Estate Fraud Report » Notary Fraud
California Real Estate Fraud Report » Notary Fraud:
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Upland Man Arrested for Forging Notary Seal, Signature
April 27th, 2012 at 9:51am
A complaint filed by a Notary Public stating that her signature and seal had been forged on a grant deed (notary fraud) has resulted in the arrest of an Upland man
Eric Lamonte Smith, 38, has been charged with real estate fraud, identity theft, forgery, and preparing fraudulent credit applications and arraigned in San Bernardino Superior Court.
Eric Lamonte Smith, 38, has been charged with real estate fraud, identity theft, forgery, and preparing fraudulent credit applications and arraigned in San Bernardino Superior Court.
Smith has pleaded notguilty to the charges.
Prosecutors are alleging that Smith was part of a real estate fraud ring since 2006. The ring and its members allegedly delayed the foreclosure of properties by filing falsified grant deeds; then they would rent out the properties to tenants unaware of the scam (rent skimming). In some instances, the suspects would also obtain fraudulent home equity lines of credit by falsifying credit applications.
Read the original article in the San Bernardino Sun.
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Stockton Developer Charged in Financing of Commercial Project
March 22nd, 2012 at 11:03pm
A Modesto-area developer with plans to build a large commercial property, including an IMAX theater, has been indicted for mail fraud for trying to fool City officials.
Aruna Kumari Chopra, 63, Ms. Chopra purchased property at 4754 Dale Road in 2009 and tried to convince Stockton officials to issue bonds to finance the development and infrastructure of the proposed project. Unfortunately, according to U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner, she not only failed to disclose that there were already liens against the property, she allegedly falsified sales contracts in order to boost the appraisal value of the property (appraisal fraud). In addition, she is charged in the indictment with aggravated identity theft for forging signatures on documents she filed with the Stanislaus County Recorder’s Office and used the seal of a notary public to validate the documents (notary fraud).
Read the original article in the Central Valley Business Times.
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Moorpark Man Charged with Using Straw Buyer to Refinance His Home
February 23rd, 2012 at 3:57pm
The office of the Ventura County District Attorney has charged Antonio Pena, 39, of Moorpark with two counts of grand theft and one count of money laundering in areal estate fraud involving a home he once owned.
The home, located at 4855 Penrose Avenue in Moorpark, belonged to Pena and another man until April 2008, when it appears to have been foreclosed by Fremont Investment and Loan.
The case arose from Pena allegedly using a straw buyer to refinance the debt on his home.
In addition to the above charges, Pena was additionally charged with “excessive taking enhancements for stealing over $200,000 in a transactions” and with an “aggravated white-collar crime enhancement for having stolen more than $100,000 while committing two or more related felonies,” according to the D.A.’s office. He also allegedly forged numerous signatures on the loans (loan fraud) and the deed of trust (notary fraud).
Read the original article in the Moorpark Patch.
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Pair Charged with Mortgage Fraud in Moorpark
February 17th, 2012 at 10:28am
A man and woman have been arrested and charged in a real estate fraud case involving a Moorpark home.
Dominic Kardum, a prosecutor in the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office, announced that Antonio Pena, a resident of Moorpark, and Claudia Xochitl Gil, of San Fernando have been arraigned in connection with loans totaling $500,000 for the mortgage property.
Antonio Pena, 39, was charged with two counts of grand theft and one count of money laundering as well as an enhanced charge of stealing in excess of $100,000 while in the commission of at least two felonies. He used the identity of a straw buyer to acquire the loans (loan fraud, mortgage fraud).
Gil’s role was to forge signatures on the deal, for which she was charged with with three counts of forgery and to fraudulently notarize the deeds of trust, which resulted in two more counts of fraud related to a deed of trust (notary fraud). Gil holds a California real estate license and was a notary at one time.
Read the original article in the Ventura County Star.
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Two Men Charged with Real Estate Fraud for Stealing Dead Woman’s Home
December 23rd, 2011 at 9:47am
San Bernardino County prosecutors have charge Troy Preston, 41, and Mario McKinley, 31, with forgery, theft from an elder or dependent adult (elder financial fraud) as well as other crimes. They allegedly obtained title to a deceased woman’s home (title fraud) and sell it to a third party.
McKinley was a notary public; he is accused of notarizing the fraudulent documents (notary fraud).
Read the original article in SFGate.
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Prison Time for Man Who Stole Notaries’ Identities to Commit Real Estate Fraud
December 18th, 2011 at 11:25am
One of two brothers who committed $6 million worth of foreclosure fraud by stealing the identities of notaries (notary fraud) and forging scores of grant deeds (title fraud) is going to prison for 12 years.
John Zepeda, 60, pleaded guilty to rent skimming, forgery, identity theft and conspiracy to commit grand theft. Zepeda apparently did not spend all his ill-gotten gains, as he has agreed to pay restitution to his victims.
John Zepeda held seminars in counties across California and in Nevada for distressed homeowners and promised to help them prevent foreclosure (foreclosure consultants). They somehow convinced the homeowners to either sign a quitclaim deed or transfer the properties directly to them. They would then rent out the properties, file bankruptcies to forestall the foreclosures and use the rent monies to provide themselves with exotic cars, jewelry and other expensive items.
David Zepeda, John Zepeda’s brother, has also been charged but is a fugitive.
Read the original article in 10News.com of San Diego.
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California City Police Department Uncovers Large Real Estate Fraud
November 3rd, 2011 at 9:17pm
The California City Police Department operates with a small staff of 20. Yet this group of extraordinarily talented and dedicated professionals took a referral on what appeared to initially be a minor identity theft case and dug deeper until their investigation bore fruit in the form of five arrests.
Those arrested were appraiser Nathaniel Acree, 65, of Long Beach; broker Jay Langer, 51, of San Juan Capistrano; Khalid Malik Abdul Ali, 60, of California City; Angie Cachu, 44, of Orange; and notary Elizabeth Torres, 28, of Santa Ana. Their scheme was one familiar to readers of the California Real Estate Fraud Report: purchase properties at inflated appraisal values, skim the phony equity off the top and use straw buyers to purchase the inflated-value homes.
Three reserve officers for California City performed much of the investigative work: Reserve Officer Michael Katz, Reserve Officer Chris Christopher (now deceased), and Sgt. Jeff Takeda.
The case is being prosecuted by Kern County Deputy District Attorney Gordon Isen. The case included the assistance of the investigative arm of the Orange County District Attorney’s Office and the US Postal Service.
Read the original article in the Bakersfield Californian.
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Glendale Real Estate Agent Steals Brother’s Property
September 9th, 2011 at 9:16am
A Glendale man who still holds a valid real estate license from the California Department of Real Estate (DRE) is serving a 2-year prison sentence after pleading no contest to two counts of forgery.
Gregor Tevan had helped his brother purchase several rental properties. Because of that, Tevan had all of the paperwork to the properties. When he couldn’t pay off his gambling debts, he forged several documents to show he was the owner of one of the properties (title fraud), used a notarized stamp (notary fraud) and sold the property to another man.
Tevan’s brother was able to regain possession of his property but the title company lost money on the deal.
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San Fernando Valley Brothers Charged in Loan Fraud
July 20th, 2011 at 4:06pm
Brothers Henrik Sardariani, 43, and Hamlet Sardariani, 41, and Wanda Kenney, 65, also known as Lavana Hamer, have pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of wire fraud, identity theft, conspiracy and unlawful monetary transactions in connection with an alleged $6 million loan fraud.
The Sardarianis are accused of creating fraudulent deeds of trusts to properties they did not own, along with forged corporate and financial documents, according to the federal indictment. They did this in order to show equity in the properties so that they could obtain large loans from the lenders. Wanda Kenney and Axcess Escrow are accused of processing the paperwork (escrow fraud). The stamps of the notaries public were phony (notary fraud).
Once the monies were received from the banks, at least several million was allegedly transferred to an account in Hong Kong by Henrik Sardariani.
U.S. District Judge Jacqueline H. Nguyen will hear the case on September 20.
Read the original article in the Los Angeles Daily News and the Beverly Hills Courier.
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Whittier Woman Charged in Elder Financial Fraud
May 5th, 2011 at 8:23pm
A Whittier woman who helped a woman refinance her home in 2009 has been charged with forging loan documents (loan fraud) by taking a second loan out against the victim’s house and gambling with the money.
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