Thursday, April 22, 2010

Pair To Get Probation In Foreclosure Rescue Scam That Duped 22 Victims Into Signing Over Title To 34 Properties Into Fraudulent Trusts

In San Diego, California, San Diego News Network reports:
  • A husband and wife who assisted others in a Ponzi scheme aimed at San Diego Filipinos struggling to make their mortgage payments pleaded guilty [] to felony charges. Ben Hebron, 51, and Gloria Hebron, 53, will be placed on probation and be required to give up their real estate licenses when they are sentenced May 20, said Deputy District Attorney William La Fond. [...] The couple pleaded guilty to three counts each of deceitful practices by a foreclosure consultant and two counts each of rent skimming, La Fond said.(1)

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  • During the scam, 22 people “quitclaimed” 34 properties into various fraudulent trusts owned by [Edmundo] Rubi and administered by the Hebrons, the prosecutor said.

For the story, see Couple pleads guilty in Filipino Ponzi scheme.

(1) According to the story, they were indicted in January along with co-defendants Edmundo Rubi and Joseph Encarnacion. Encarnacion, 60, pleaded guilty to helping the scheme’s alleged ringleader, Rubi, by recruiting victims and assisting in a presentation in which the victims were encouraged to transfer titles to their real estate to the defendants, La Fond said. Encarnacion was sentenced to four years in prison and Rubi is scheduled for a mental competency hearing next month. Filipinos in San Diego were urged to invest in companies called “Apocalypse Trust” and “Amerisian Trust,” the prosecutor said. At the time he was indicted, Rubi had just gotten out of prison after serving a 70 month federal sentence for swindling $24 million out of 425 mostly Filipino victims in 2005, La Fond said.