California Real Estate Fraud Report

Brothers David and John Zepeda have reached the end of the trail of their quest to live the high life, according to the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office. The enterprising pair have been charged with 104 felony accounts including identity theft, forgery, grand theft, rent skimming and conspiracy in a con that involved dozens of properties, over 300 victims and losses to those victims of $1.5 million.

The con occurred when the brothers acquired properties in foreclosure by convincing their victims to transfer title to them so that they could “save” the properties from foreclosures. Forged quitclaims and forged deeds were integral to the acquisition; the properties were then rented out.

Said San Diego County Dist. Atty. Bonnie Dumanis, “This is yet another example of the various types of foreclosure scams we continue to see in the county.

Read the full article in the Los Angeles Times.

Mark Alan Abrams, 49, one of the central players in the Beverly Hills mortgage fraud conspiracy that consisted of real estate agents, appraisers, straw buyers, mortgage brokers and probably more, pleaded guilty to conspiracy, bank fraud and other loan fraud-related charges.

For the tens of millions that Abrams helped to steal, prosecutors are seeking a seven year (at most) sentence from U.S. District Judge Dean D. Pregerson. Assuming Abrams behaves himself, he could end up serving about half that time. Taxpayers, on the other hand, will be paying back his thievery and that of his eight fellow-convicted conspirators, for years via TARP (Troubled Assets Relief Program).

Lehman Brother Bank was misled by Abrams and his co-conspirators to fund over 80 loans in expensive Westside neighborhoods. As part of their sentences, the guilty have been ordered to pay their share of the $46 million restitution.

Read the full article in the Los Angeles Daily News. You can search the California Real Estate Fraud Report for earlier articles about the Beverly Hills mortgage fraud gang.

Mortgage fraud isn’t something most people would think a bookkeeping firm would be involved in. But federal prosecutors say that Aguilera’s Bookkeeping & Income Tax, located on South Santa Fe Avenue in Vista, was at the heart of a mortgage fraud scheme. By fabricating W-2 forms and manufacturing pay stubs for almost two dozen real estate agents and loan officers (note: DRE, are you investigating these agents?), Aguilera’s played a central role in a $55 million loan fraud business that victimized lending institutions in both San Diego County and the San Francisco Bay Area between 2002 and 2008.

Owner Roberto Aguilera is an enrolled tax agent with the IRS as well as a real estate agent licensed through the California Department of Real Estate (DRE). For as little as $75 per letter, Aguilera would allegedly falsify documents for real estate agents, such as Mylene Funk of Oceanside, who, according to court documents, faxed a letter to Aguilera on May 12, 2005, requesting that he fabricate tax returns for one of her borrowers. “Okey Robert, use your imagination”, Ms. Funk is purported to have written. Funk has pleaded not guilty after being indicted for her role in the scheme.

Read the full article in SignOn San Diego, the San Diego Union Tribune, written by Greg Moran.

The U.S. Department of Justice has indicted eight Californians for real estate fraud, including Ken Sarna of Vallejo.

Sarna and the other defendants were charged with committing wire and mail fraud in connection with a real estate investment fraud scheme that ultimately resulted in losses of more than $11.4 million to the victims. The company where the alleged fraud occured was called Heaven Investments Holding Co., of which Ken Sarna was the director of operations. Heaven Investments filed for bankruptcy in 2008, was liquidated in 2009 and appears to have been little more than a Ponzi scheme.

Others charged in the indictment are:

Akbar Bhamani, 56, of Carmichael, CEO, Heaven Investments
Aly Khan Bhamani, 28, of Carmichael, Vice President, Heaven Investments
Zainulabidin Akbar Bhamani, 30, of Sherman Oaks, Vice President, Heaven Investments
Laila Bhamani, 57, of Tracy, Finance Department, Heaven Investments
Feroza Bhamani, 55, of Carmichael, Finance Department, Heaven Investments
John Pierre Quintana, 30, of Dixon, Director of Marketing, Heaven Investments
Shaun Bhamani, 26, of Valencia, Loan Officer, Global Financial & Assets Inc.

Read the full article in the Vallejo Times-Herald written by Rachel Raskin-Zrihen. See also the article published in 7th Space Interactive.

Raul Altamirano, 53, a former real estate agent who surrendered his license in 2004, has pleaded guilty to one count of grant theft. He further admitted an allegation that he stole more than $150,000 from his victim.

For his crimes, Altamirano will serve four years in prison. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge James Bianco ordered him to make restitution of $301,470 in restitution to the victim, who had asked Altamirano to assist her in taking $100,000 equity from her home. Instead, Altamirano stripped the entire equity out of her home by taking out two loans totaling $429,000.

Read the full article in the Downey Patriot.

The San Joaquin County D.A.’s Office has completed a three year investigation into a Tracy, California brokerage, resulting in the arrests of the firm’s chief executive and a second person.

Ward Real Estate Brokerage & Foreclosure Services Inc., no longer in business, was the focus of multiple complaints. Authorities believe $4.5 million was stolen from investors through a house-flipping scheme that promised high returns but failed when the real estate market turned sour.

Leesa Marie Ward, 45, of Lodi, was arraigned on a 46-count felony indictment by a criminal grand jury, which charged her with tax evasion, grand theft and securities fraud. Alison Ann Jensen, 45, of Pleasanton turned herself in and was booked on identical charges. Bail for each licensed real estate broker is set at $3 million. Jensen’s broker’s license has expired, but Ward’s is still active with the California DRE.

Some of the victim’s of this alleged investment scam were elderly.

Read the full article in RecordNet.com

Real estate agent Robert Carrillo’s crime spree is coming to a close, as he was convicted last week of five felony counts including grand theft, forgery, and impersonation of a notary public.

According to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office, Carrillo, 50, and his partner Cesar Emilio Luna (still at-large) operated their real estate crimes in Santa Clara, San Mateo and Alameda counties. In one of the cases, Carrillo and Luna forged the victim’s signature on a notary’s journal but used their own fingerprints.

Read the full article in KTVU.com

Joseph O’Meara, 63, a former Carmel real estate broker, has been arrested and arraigned on 32 counts of wire fraud, mail fraud, conspiracy and money laundering, according to U.S. Attorney Joseph P. Russoniello and Monterey County District Attorney Dean D. Flippo.

The indictment charges that O’Meara defrauded his private investors out of $16 million in a golf course development project from 2004 through 2007 that never happened. Known as the Running Horse Golf and Country Club (the Running Horse Development), O’Meara and his business partner solicited Jack Nicklaus’ company, Nicklaus Design, to design the 18-hole golf course, which would have an adjoining 780 new homes constructed. According to the indictment, O’Meara used the commercial loans he had received for his own use and then solicited the private investors for funds to pay for the construction instead of the commercial loans.

Read the full article in 7th Space Interactive.

If home buyers thought the near-collapse of the real estate market would make purchasing a home any easier, many by now have had second thoughts. The steep drop in prices in most of the communities in Los Angeles County has not made purchasing a home as easy as one would think. Why not? Because fraud is still prevalent in real estate transactions; the schemes are just different than before the bubble began its burst in 2007.

Read the full article by Monique Bryher in the KPCC Freeway.

AB 1800, the proposed legislation that would double the misdemeanor penalties for posing as a landlord, will be heard on the California State Senate Floor in August. Posing as a landlord in order to collect deposits from unwitting prospective renters, has been facilitated in by online housing services, especially Craig’s List. With 22% of the nation’s vacancies, California is fertile ground for this form of real estate fraud.

AB 1800 is co-authored by Assemblywoman Ma (D-San Francisco) and Assemblyman Hagman (R-Chino Hills).

Read the full article in the California Chronicle.