http://www.californiarealestatefraudreport.com This blog exists to educate law enforcement and consumers as to the kinds of real estate crimes being committed in the state of California. I assemble timely news reports of real estate fraud, mortgage fraud, loan fraud, appraisal fraud, affinity fraud, loan modification scams and elder financial fraud in order to spotlight real estate professionals and businesses who are being prosecuted for real estate crimes -Monique Bryher Thu, 09 Sep 2010 21:15:54 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en 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 ... http://www.californiarealestatefraudreport.com/archives/1502 California's three-strikes law is in for a test: it was not designed for white-collar crimes, but is going to be test on a man who is accused of scamming most elderly South Los Angeles residents out of their houses. 47 year-old Timothy Barnett is charged with 23 felonies, including identity theft, real ... http://www.californiarealestatefraudreport.com/archives/1500 Former Elk Grove City Council Member Michael Leary has filed suit against Alyc Maselli, his ex-girlfriend. Maselli had previously accused Leary of committing real estate fraud, which in turn launched a criminal investigation against him in 2009. Leary is claiming it was Maselli who committed real estate fraud and is suing her along with ... http://www.californiarealestatefraudreport.com/archives/1498 After pleading guilty to 112 felony counts, 68 year old Joseph Anthony Veltre was sentenced to 18 years in prison for running a Ponzi scheme that fleeced investors, many of them elderly, out of $2.6 million. He was ordered to repay that same sum in restitution. Veltre ran his Ponzi scheme ... http://www.californiarealestatefraudreport.com/archives/1496 Donna Demello, 44, of San Jose, has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud in connection with a conspiracy allegedly run by James Delbert McConville, who is awaiting trial. Demello was an escrow officer at Stewart Title in Milpitas and will be sentenced by ... http://www.californiarealestatefraudreport.com/archives/1494 The commission created by Congress to investigate the collapse of the U.S. economy announced Thursday it will soon hold four field hearings in some of the nation’s hardest-hit communities, the first one in Bakersfield. The bi-partisan Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, created by Congress to study the downturn in the nation's economy, ... http://www.californiarealestatefraudreport.com/archives/1492 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, ... http://www.californiarealestatefraudreport.com/archives/1479 To no one's surprise, Angelo Mozilo ran Countrywide Home Loans as if it were his private piggy bank, handing out risky high dollar volume loans to his friends that even other executives thought careless. According to testimony by Chief Risk Officer John P. McMurray at an SEC lawsuit, loans that fell ... http://www.californiarealestatefraudreport.com/archives/1477 The U.S. GAO (General Accounting Office) has just released a report on the newest forms of mortgage fraud. Requested by Rep. Doris Matsui of Sacramento,  the new frauds are a variation of the foreclosure fraud schemes in which fraudsters demanded upfront fees and performed little or no work on behalf ... http://www.californiarealestatefraudreport.com/archives/1463 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 ... http://www.californiarealestatefraudreport.com/archives/1443