Ramirez family pleads no contest in mortgage fraud case
| Monday, Sep 12 2011 10:00 AM
Last Updated Tuesday, Sep 13 2011 01:29 PM
A former Bakersfield real estate agent and her parents Monday pled no contest to an array of felonies related to a multi-million-dollar mortgage fraud scheme.
Guadalupe Ramirez and her father, Augustine Ramirez, each face up to six years in state prison. The mother, Maria Ramirez, faces up to four years in state prison. Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 9 in Kern County Superior Court.
Prosecutor Gordon Isen said the case against the trio was "unmistakable."
"No one could possibly claim that this was innocent conduct that was just misunderstood," he said.
The family was accused of collaborating in a plan to obtain home loans based on inflated appraisals, and lying to sellers to get them to make what amounted to kickback payments that were not disclosed to lenders. All of the homes went into default immediately after closing. The scheme cost lenders at least $4.1 million, according to court documents.
Augustine Ramirez bought five homes between November 2006 and January 2007, each time indicating he planned to live in the place. Owner-occupied homes are eligible for more favorable loans.
The daughter, a Bakersfield real estate agent at the time the homes were purchased, was missing for months after a warrant was issued for her arrest. She was finally located in July 2010 in Las Vegas, where she had just been hired at a realty company that said it had no idea the woman was wanted by authorities.
Guadalupe Ramirez pled no contest to one count of conspiracy to commit a crime and one enhancement of a pattern of felony conduct (two or more related felonies resulting in the loss by another person or entity of more than $500,000); as well as two counts of grand theft.
Augustine Ramirez and Maria Ramirez each pled no contest to one count of conspiracy with the same enhancement, two counts of grand theft and one count of tax evasion.
The defendants remain in custody and could not be reached for comment.
