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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Eight Face Mortgage Fraud Charges

VENTURA, Calif. (CN) - Eight Southern Californians were arrested Wednesday on mortgage-fraud charges that prosecutors say defrauded banks of more than $11 million.

The indictment claims that Camarillo resident Jose Bautista Garcia ran the ring out of New Concepts Home Loans in Oxnard.

The mortgage fraud ring was based in Ventura County, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement.

They filed bogus loan applications, usually for low-income Spanish speakers, taking "substantial loan fees and commissions," and costing the lenders millions when the homes went into foreclosure, the U.S. attorney said.

Jose Garcia's wife and other got phony CPA letters from tax preparers that lied about the mortgage applicants, and the defendants took "huge commissions" of at least $10,000 per mortgage, according to the U.S. attorney's statement.

FBI agent Bill Lewis said in the statement: "Mr. Garcia allegedly directed his workforce, including unlicensed individuals acting as realtors, to peddle the dream of home ownership in the poorest neighborhoods of Oxnard, where they easily found people eager to buy."

Here are the defendants, as described by the U.S. Attorney's Office:

Jose "Joe" Bautista Garcia, 46, of Camarillo, a real estate broker who in addition to New Concepts Home Loans (NCHL) owned Century 21 Premier Realty, and allegedly directed agents to go door-to-door and cold call unqualified borrowers in Ventura County;

Lucy Ann Garcia, Jose Garcia's wife, 46, also of Camarillo, who co-owned NCHL;

Jose Fernando Murguia, 47, of Oxnard, a loan officer at NCHL;

Sesilia Garcia, one of Jose Garcia's sisters, 30, of Oxnard, a loan officer at NCHL;

Lili Ayala Hernandez, 41, of Oxnard, a loan officer at NCHL;

Lidubina "Lido" Mendoza Perez, 41, of Moreno Valley, a loan officer who worked at NCHL's office in Bakersfield;

Gregg Scott Quinn, 40, of Camarillo, a loan officer at NCHL; and

Cesar Rodriguez Azamar, 36, of Santa Paula, an employee of NCHL.

If convicted of mortgage fraud conspiracy, all of them could be sentenced to up to 30 years in prison.

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