Nine defendants were charged by with mail fraud, money laundering, and related offenses in connection with a "cash back to buyer" mortgage fraud scheme that occurred between May 2006 and September 2006. The defendants charged are:
Joy Johnson, 33, Solano County, California;
Elizabeth Carrion, 38, Solano County, California;
Lenin Galeano and Carmen Galeano, 32 and 30, husband and wife, Solano County, California;
Angelito Evangelista, 40, Solano County, California;
Clarisa Ang and Cris Ang, 43 and 46, husband and wife, Solano County, California;
Lydia Ang, 71, Cris’ mother, Solano County, California; and
Cory Whalen, 31, Solano County, California.
The defendants purchased 12 houses in Solano County, California. In all but one of the transactions, the real estate agent was Johnson. The real estate transactions were designed to allow the sellers to credit defendants "money for repairs" at the close of escrow. The purchase prices were substantially inflated from the list prices, and the increases were then credited at the close of escrow to fictitious businesses controlled by the defendants. The defendants by and large did not use the funds they received for repairs on the properties. Instead, the funds were used to pay the mortgage payments on the properties and for living expenses. In addition, the loan applications contained false information about employment, income, assets, real estate owned, and/or occupancy status. Eleven of the homes have either been foreclosed upon or have had notice of defaults recorded against them. The amount of loss attributed to these defaults has not been determined, but it is anticipated the lenders will sustain losses in excess of one million dollars. This case was investigated by the FBI and IRS-Criminal Investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Courtney Linn.
The properties listed in the Criminal Complaint are:
142 Virginia Street, Vacaville, California;
701 Camellia Way, Vacaville, California;
206 Arbor Street, Vacaville, California;
254 Newport Circle, Vacaville, California
1889 Buena Tierra Street, Vallejo, California;
429 Valle Vista, Vallejo, California;
301 Campbell Avenue, Vallejo, California;
909 Hargas Avenue, Vallejo, California;
21 La Cruz, Benicia, California
337 East T Street, Benicia, California.
Rachel Dollar, the editor of Mortgage Fraud Blog is an attorney and Certified Mortgage Banker who handles litigation for lending institutions and secondary market investors.