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Vallejo Man Gets 4 Years For Multimillion Dollar Mortgage And Foreclosure Fraud Scheme

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced today that Vallejo resident Zalathiel Aguila, 46, has been sentenced to four years in prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution and bank fraud, according to the Department of Justice.

According to court documents, Aguila and co-conspirators Sergio Roman Barrientos and Omar Anabo had operated Capital Access LLC, a Vallejo company that preyed on homeowners nearing foreclosure, from September 2004 to February 2008.

They convinced homeowners to sign over the title to their homes to Capital Access and then used any equity the homeowners still had to pay for personal expenses and operational expenses of the scheme. The defendants also defrauded federally insured financial institutions out of millions of dollars and obtained home loans under false pretenses using straw buyers.

Homeowners across California lost their homes and savings due to the scheme, and lenders lost an estimated $10.47 million, according to the DOJ.

Barrientos was sentenced to 14 years on Nov. 2, 2018, and Anabo is scheduled for an August 16 sentencing hearing.

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