DA Charges Moorpark Man With Real Estate Fraud

The Ventura County District Attorney this week charged a Moorpark man with two counts of grand theft and one count of money laundering arising out of what it calls a fraudulent real estate transaction.

Antonio Pena, 39, was arrested Tuesday and charged Wednesday for using a “straw borrower” to obtain two mortgage loans totaling more than $500,000 in the course of refinancing the debt on a home at 4855 Penrose Ave. in Moorpark, according to the District Attorney’s office.

Pena is also being charged with “excessive taking enhancements for stealing over $200,000 in a transactions” and with an “aggravated white-collar crime enhancement for having stolen more than $100,000 while committing two or more related felonies,” the District Attorney’s office said.

The DA’s office said in a statement Pena caused a portion of the excess proceeds from the refinance to be deposited into a financial institution, forged the signatures of multiple individuals involved in the transaction and fraudulently notarized signatures on deeds of trust that were recorded at the county recorder’s office.

On related charges, the DA also filed complaints against Claudia Xochitl Gil, 38, of San Fernando with three counts of forgery and two counts of fraud related to a deed of trust. Gil holds a real estate broker’s license issued by the California Department of Real Estate and formerly was a licensed notary public, the DA’s statement said.

The charges are the result of a long-term investigation conducted by the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office Real Estate Fraud Unit with the assistance of the Moorpark Police Department.

If convicted of all charges, Pena faces a maximum state prison sentence of six years, eight months. Gil faces a maximum time in custody of four years, eight months if convicted.