Suspect Learns Upfront Fee Foreclosure Rescue Ripoffs Not A 'Civil Matter;' Slammed w/ $100K Bail Hold After Getting Pinched For Burglary, Grand Theft

In Ventura County, California, the Ventura County Star reports:

• A Fontana man was arrested Thursday on suspicion of stealing thousands of dollars from an Oxnard woman as part of a foreclosure-rescue operation, prosecutors said.



• Juan Alvarado Cervantes, 49, was arrested by Fontana police, then booked into Ventura County jail on suspicion of residential burglary and grand theft, the Ventura County District Attorney's Office said.



• Prosecutors said Cervantes went to the home of an Oxnard woman struggling to make her mortgage payment, collected thousands of dollars in upfront fees, promised to save her home from foreclosure but provided no services. The woman eventually lost her home, officials said.



• The charges against Cervantes stem from a long-term investigation by the District Attorney's Real Estate Fraud Unit into foreclosure-rescue operations in Ventura County, prosecutors said.



• Cervantes was being held in county jail Thursday in lieu of $100,000 bail. If convicted, he faces a maximum of six years and eight months in prison, prosecutors said.

Source: Fontana man accused in Ventura County foreclosure case.

Go here for the Ventura County DA press release.