A real estate investment exec and a real estate broker are allegedly at the center of the scam, in which four California mansions were leveraged for millions in ill-gotten gains
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A real estate investment executive and a real estate broker are allegedly at the center of a massive mortgage-fraud scheme that generated almost $50 million in ill-gotten gains.
Peter Cash Doye, a senior executive at real estate investment firm Conix (also known as Variant Commercial Real Estate, or VCRE) and real estate broker Raquel Reid have been indicted for their alleged parts in the scam, which centered around four California mansions.
According to the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California, Doye and Reid scammed lenders into making “enormous” loans on the mansions, then forged documents to make it appear the loans had been paid off. That allowed them to secure new loans from different lenders who believed that the mansions were owned “free and clear,” according to the US Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors said that Doye, Reid and their co-conspirators used “a host of lies” to convince lenders to part with the money – creating forged real-estate lien releases, submitting fraudulent records to the San Diego County Recorder’s Office, and other ploys. Reid, a notary, helped give the phony paperwork an air of legitimacy by notarizing forged documents.
Two co-conspirators, Doye’s business partner Courtland Gettel and attorney Jeffrey Greenberg, have already pleaded guilty to their part in the scheme.
Gettel admitted that he and Doye acquired the mansions by claiming they would be used as luxury rentals and investment properties. In fact, however, Doye and Gettel, along with their families, were living in the houses. When they needed ready cash to bankroll other business deals, they approached lender, pretending the initial loans were either paid off or had never existed, prosecutors said. Greenberg admitted that he generated phony records to make it look as though the initial loans had been paid. When lenders discovered the fraud in late 2014, the conspirators created more phony paperwork to cover their trail, prosecutors said.
Doye and Reid have been charged with criminal forfeiture, mail fraud, and other offenses. Gettel and Greenberg have been convicted in the scam and are scheduled for sentencing in October.
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Peter Cash Doye, a senior executive at real estate investment firm Conix (also known as Variant Commercial Real Estate, or VCRE) and real estate broker Raquel Reid have been indicted for their alleged parts in the scam, which centered around four California mansions.
According to the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California, Doye and Reid scammed lenders into making “enormous” loans on the mansions, then forged documents to make it appear the loans had been paid off. That allowed them to secure new loans from different lenders who believed that the mansions were owned “free and clear,” according to the US Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors said that Doye, Reid and their co-conspirators used “a host of lies” to convince lenders to part with the money – creating forged real-estate lien releases, submitting fraudulent records to the San Diego County Recorder’s Office, and other ploys. Reid, a notary, helped give the phony paperwork an air of legitimacy by notarizing forged documents.
Two co-conspirators, Doye’s business partner Courtland Gettel and attorney Jeffrey Greenberg, have already pleaded guilty to their part in the scheme.
Gettel admitted that he and Doye acquired the mansions by claiming they would be used as luxury rentals and investment properties. In fact, however, Doye and Gettel, along with their families, were living in the houses. When they needed ready cash to bankroll other business deals, they approached lender, pretending the initial loans were either paid off or had never existed, prosecutors said. Greenberg admitted that he generated phony records to make it look as though the initial loans had been paid. When lenders discovered the fraud in late 2014, the conspirators created more phony paperwork to cover their trail, prosecutors said.
Doye and Reid have been charged with criminal forfeiture, mail fraud, and other offenses. Gettel and Greenberg have been convicted in the scam and are scheduled for sentencing in October.
Related stories:
Former housing authority officer accused of stealing thousands from federal program
Ex-director of HUD-accredited nonprofit pleads guilty to fraud
