DRE in the News - February 2012
Archives:
Calif. debt collection scam defrauded victims out of $5M, FTC says
By Tia Ghose - California Watch - 02.23.12
The Federal Trade Commission acted this month to halt the operations of a California-based company that it claims defrauded consumers
out of $5 million in more than 17,000 transactions. The court filings [PDF], a complaint seeking a temporary restraining order and freeze
of company assets, claim that Orange County-based American Credit Crunchers LLC (Unlicensed) and affiliate Ebeeze LLC (unlicensed) obtained
personal information that people had entered in online payday loan applications.
Realtor, 8 others charged in mortgage fraud
U-T San Diego – 02.23.12
A San Diego real estate agent and mortgage broker, his wife, and seven others were charged Tuesday with conspiracy, fraud and
money laundering in a multimillion-dollar mortgage fraud scheme that prosecutors said targeted low-income immigrant home buyers.
Westminster woman charged in fraudulent real estate investment scheme
Orange County Breeze – 02.23.12
Two women have been arrested and charged with stealing over $2 million from 17 victims in a fraudulent real estate investment
scheme. Loan Thituong Nguyen, 43, Westminster, and Lynn Eichenberger, 42, Chatsworth, are each charged with 15 felony counts
of grand theft, two felony counts of money laundering, and one felony count of conspiracy to commit grand theft with sentencing
enhancements for property loss over $1.3 million, aggravated white collar crime over $500,000, and money laundering over $1 million.
Man faces possible life sentence if convicted of housing scam
By Stuart Pfeifer, Los Angeles Times – 02.21.12
Timothy Barnett, suspected of tricking desperate L.A. County residents into selling him their homes at steep discounts, could
face life in prison under California's three-strikes law.
Elk Grove man sentenced in mortgage fraud case
By Rick Daysog - The Sacramento Bee - 02.17.12
An Elk Grove man was sentenced today to four years and nine months in prison for his role in an $8 million mortgage fraud scheme.
U.S. District Judge Edward Garcia also ordered Gabriel Viramontes, 49, to pay restitution after a jury found him guilty last March
on bank and mail fraud charges.
