Local DA Busts Border County 'Snatch & Flip' Real Estate Title Hijacking Racket; Four Suspects Bagged, Three Others On The Run In Forged Deed Scam That Scored $400K+ Targeting Unwitting, Cash-Paying Victims Unfamiliar w/ Buying Formalities

In Cameron County, Texas, KGBT-TV Channel 4 reports:

• The Cameron County District Attorney's Office busted a real estate crime ring, which left victims without thousands of dollars and their investment property.
  
  Victims of Allan Ramirez Rodriguez and his accomplices defrauded unsuspecting buyers for years.
  
  Over the six-month-long investigation, dubbed Surreal Estate, fraud was uncovered being committed by Rodriguez and six others, according to the district attorney.
  
  Rodriguez would convince buyers to invest or purchase properties he and his accomplices never owned, and they even provided fake deeds.
  
  "Ramirez explained that he was associated with Mr. Tony Yzaguirre, the Cameron County Tax Assessor," according to an affidavit for warrant obtained by CBS 4 News.
  
  Over $400,000 were stolen from unsuspecting victims since 2013.
  
  "In this situation the ring would approach the Mexican citizen and offer to sell the property and the Mexican citizen would come up with cash," said Luis Saenz, the Cameron County District Attorney.
  
  The following men and women were arrested this week:
  
  {>}Melissa Rangel Ramirez, 27, was charged with theft of property and engaging in organized criminal activity.
  
  {>}Yolanda Rodriguez, 59, was charged with engaging in organized criminal activity
  
  {>}Sergio Alberto Alcocer, 35, was charged with two counts of theft of property and two counts of engaging in organized criminal activity.
  
  {>}Jesus Edward Ibarra, 29, was charged with engaging in organized criminal activity and impersonating a public servant.
  
  Ibarra was wearing a jacket with a tax office seal on it and told an investor he worked with the Cameron County Tax Assessor, according to the affidavit.
  
  Ringleader Allan Ramirez Rodriguez, Rene Ramirez and Luis Blanco remain on the run and are wanted by the Cameron County District Attorney's Office.
  
  ***
  
  There could be more victims of the crime ring, according to Saenz.
  
  "If you come up with cash, that means you do not have go to mortgage company, you're not going to have to get a bank involved, you're not going to have lawyers involved," Saenz said. "And really, those are the safeguards and checks and balances."
  
  Allan Ramirez Rodriguez may have fled to Mexico, and the investigation remains ongoing.
  
  Most victims were Mexican citizens unaware of the process of buying legitimate property.

For the story, see 'Surreal estate' crime ring busted, three crooks on the run.