Eleven defendants have been arrested on charges including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to commit money laundering. They’re accused of stealing the identities of elderly victims, using the information to obtain title reports for residential properties, and then using these property titles as security for millions of dollars in hard money loans.
According to the grand jury indictment, the group allegedly operated between January 2021 and May 2023, fraudulently obtaining personal information from elderly California property owners in Santa Monica, Hollywood, Hollywood Hills, Westwood and Chinatown. They then allegedly created counterfeit IDs and email accounts in the victims’ names in order to represent “themselves as the victims’ agents, brokers, representatives or relatives” and submitt “fraudulent applications to private money lenders for hard money loans secured by the victims’ properties.”
Among the false documents were “bank statements, rental agreements, doctors’ notes and death certificates,” which were allegedly used to back up the conspirators’ stories about the victims’ assets, finances and health as well as the purpose of the loans. Documents were also allegedly used to create “synthetic identities,” which were then used to open bank accounts under the victims’ names.
According to the Department of Justice statement on the case, the total intended loss was approximately $17.4 million, with actual losses of approximately $6 million.
“The defendants didn’t just steal identities, they used those stolen identities to secure high-value real estate loans, fabricate financial documents, and move millions of dollars through a maze of fraudulent businesses and funnel accounts,” Tyler Hatcher, Special Agent in Charge, IRS-CI Los Angeles Field Office, said in the statement.
“Our agents traced every wire, every transfer, and every shell account to expose the financial backbone of this conspiracy. This indictment sends a clear message, IRS-CI will dismantle the money pipelines that allow complex fraud schemes to flourish, and we will hold accountable those who profit from exploiting our financial system.”
If found guilty, the defendants would face a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for each fraud and money laundering count, plus a mandatory sentence of two years, consecutive, for each aggravated identity theft count.
