Another suspect arrested in mortgage fraud case
BY COURTENAY EDELHART, Californian staff writer cedelhart@bakersfield.com
A Bakersfield woman wanted on a $1 million arrest warrant in connection with an alleged $4.1 million mortgage fraud scheme was arrested Wednesday, joining her husband and real estate agent daughter who already are in custody and awaiting trial.
Maria Quijada Ramirez, 54, was taken into custody about 7:45 a.m. Wednesday at the home of a relative, said Bakersfield police spokeswoman Sgt. Mary DeGeare. Her daughter is real estate agent Guadalupe Ramirez, and her husband is accused of being a straw buyer.
The father is identified as both Augustine and Agustin in court documents, and on some property records he is listed as Agustin.
Four years ago, the father purchased five homes between November 2006 and January 2007 and each time indicated he planned to live in the place, according to a criminal complaint filed in March in Kern County Superior Court. Owner-occupied homes are eligible for more favorable loan terms.
Father and daughter are accused of conspiring to obtain inflated appraisals on homes, and lying to sellers to get them to make what amounted to kickback payments that were not disclosed to lenders, according to the allegations listed in the complaint. The homes went into default immediately.
The daughter, a Bakersfield real estate agent, was missing for months but eventually was arrested in July in Las Vegas, where she had just been hired at a realty company that said it had no idea she was wanted by authorities. The father was arrested in November in Apple Valley.
The mother's warrant was for conspiracy, accessory, grand theft and tax evasion, police said. Maria Ramirez is expected to be arraigned later this week.
Deputy District Attorney Gordon Isen, head of the Kern County District Attorney's Office's mortgage fraud unit, declined to comment on the case.
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