California Mayor Accused In Alleged Real Estate Scam That Sunk Church

In Huron, California, The Fresno Bee reports:

• Huron's longtime mayor allegedly paid less than half the agreed-upon price for a piece of property, then illegally sold the land to a church -- which ended up collapsing as a result of the bad deal, court records say. The details are contained in a search warrant affidavit in the case, which was made public Monday in Fresno County Superior Court. The search warrant was for the residence of Huron Mayor Ramon Dominguez, 62. [...] Dominguez faces charges of grand theft and receiving stolen property.

Dominguez is accused of paying about $8,600 out of a $20,000 purchase price for the property bought on an installment payment basis from a third party - then selling the property, pocketing $29,000 in installment payments from his buyer, the church, out of a $40,000 sale price. He allegedly stiffed his seller on the balance owed on his installment payments, allowing the land to fall into foreclosure.

For more, see Huron mayor illegally sold land, records show (Church reportedly bought lot and folded from losses). DeedTheftContra