Seven people were charged in involvement with a mortgage scam that authorities say defrauded 79 people out of $247,000 in Tustin and Santa Ana.
Natalie Nava, 36, Amir Khoshnevis, 35, Aaron Pierson, 33, Alejandra Orozco, 27; Maria De La Paz, 24; Payom Ilkhanipour, 34; and Ryan Pelzer, 30, are charged with numerous felony charges of conspiracy, money laundering, and grand theft, with sentence enhancements of $100,000 to $500,000.
According to Orange County District Attorney’s Office investigator Henry C. Griffin Jr., the offenders worked for Regional Community Services, which had locations in Tustin and Santa Ana, and unlawfully provided mortgage foreclosure counseling and debt consolidation.
Griffin said that the defendants “lied to the homeowners about obtaining a low-interest mortgage, and after presenting the homeowners with a ‘payment program,’ they sought and collected these advance payments before a mortgage modification was authorized.”
“RCS functioned for a brief period of time, from April to July 2018, due to a phone call I made to RCS in July 2018 challenging the legitimacy of their foreclosure-consultant services,” Griffin said.
The accused then shut down everything, making it “impossible for the homeowners to contact anybody at RCS,” according to Griffin.
Griffin claims that the defendants illegally collected $247,000 in advance fees from 79 victims over those short months.
According to court documents, Khoshnevis, Pierson, and Pelzer were deemed fugitives and had not yet been apprehended. The other suspects were set to be arraigned on Aug. 5.
