13 Families Say They Were Scammed in Vegas

LAS VEGAS (CN) - Operators of Real Estate Development LLC took more than $150,000 from Spanish-speakers in a "real estate scam," the families say in 13 lawsuits.

One couple claims the defendants took "10 years worth of (their) life savings," leaving them with 6 cents in their bank account.

Since the day after Christmas, 13 families have sued these defendants in Clark County Court: Red Las Vegas Inc., Real Estate Development LLC, Orlando Vera, Gabriel Ramallo, Christian Delgado, Juan Robles, Tanya Chaverri, and Latino Global LLC. Some of the lawsuits include other defendants.

Citations in this article come from the lawsuit filed by Fredy Gutierrez and Maria Gallaga, which resembles the other 12.

All the families say they were contacted by people claiming to work for Real Estate Development, who offered help with foreclosures, short sales and/or real estate investments.

The families claim the defendants are not licensed or qualified to perform the "services" they offer.

Gutierrez claims that defendants Christian Delgado and Juan Robles said they worked for Real Estate Development and could help him find a property to invest in.

"Defendant Juan held himself out and presented a business card stating that he was and is 'Investor Relations' and that the subject purchase was an investment for plaintiffs and that Juan was an is affiliated with defendant Real Estate," the complaint states.

"On or about June 24, 2013, defendants induced plaintiff Gutierrez to enter into a 'Buying Agreement' with defendant Real Estate, which fraudulently stated that the transaction was an 'investment agreement.'"

The Buying Agreement stated that Real Estate Development would act as lender and that Gutierrez would obtain the loan within 24 months of signature, but it "never specified a property which plaintiffs were purchasing," according to the complaint.

Gutierrez that on June 25, 2013 he was "induced to wire the sum of $50,030 to defendant Real Estate, which defendants represented would be sufficient for plaintiff Gutierrez to make an all cash purchase of a residential property."

"The Subject Wire literally took 10 years' worth of plaintiffs' life savings; plaintiff's bank account had 6 cents left in it after the wire transfer," the complaint states.

Gutierrez claims that when he "requested proof that the purchase monies were being held in escrow as represented, defendants refused to provide that information."

He claims the defendants never put his money in any sort of segregated account or escrow, and when he complained that they had defrauded him, "defendants threatened plaintiff's physical and familial safety and security."

The 13 families claim the defendants took more than $150,000 and have not returned a cent.

They claim that "RedLV and Real Estate are fraudulent entities under which defendants Vera and Chaverri operate their common schemes and scams as alter egos of each other;" that "defendants Gabriel [Ramallo] and Juan [Robles] use defendant Latino as their entity under which they conduct their fraudulent activities in luring unsuspecting into the real estate scams."

They seek damages and punitive damages for breach of contract, breach of faith, misrepresentation, negligence, unjust enrichment, breach of fiduciary duty, conversion, deceptive trade, civil conspiracy and racketeering,

They are represented by Jon Carlston of Premier Legal Group.

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