Latrese Gevon Breaux, 47, was sentenced today for helping run a sophisticated real estate fraud scheme that resulted in the theft of more than $1.4 million from 2014 to 2016.
From July 2014 through September 2016, Angela Cotton, assisted by her co-defendants, used fictitious escrow and title companies that she had created to deceive a lending company into believing it was funding two legitimate real estate transactions.
The group stole the identities of nine people in order to facilitate the fictitious real estate sales. Along with the fake escrow and title companies, the defendants created a fictitious place of employment for one supposed homebuyer under whose name the two loans were approved, the prosecutor said.
To convince the lender of the legitimacy of the transactions and the entities involved, the defendants created fraudulent websites, emails and phone networks along with fake employment documentation and bank account statements from a non-existent financial institution for the borrower.
The lender transferred funds to a bank account it believed to be owned by a legitimate title company but was owned by one of the defendants.
The properties for which the defendants received loans were located in Los Angeles, California and La Cañada Flintridge, California and had not been listed for sale, the prosecutor added. http://www.mortgagefraudblog.com/?s=Latrese+Gevon+Breaux
Breaux, pleaded no contest on February 14, 2019 to one felony count each of grand theft and identity theft, and she admitted an allegation of fraud and embezzlement. She was sentenced to 212 days in county jail. She also is required to complete 200 hours community service and was placed on formal probation for five years under the terms of a plea agreement.
In October, Angela Grace Cotton, 47, was sentenced to 12 years in state prison after pleading no contest to three counts of identity theft, two counts of grand theft and one count each of forgery and money laundering, all felonies.
Denaysha Coleman, 27, was sentenced to three years and eight months in state prison after pleading no contest to one felony count each of grand theft and money laundering.
Lawrence Edward Cotton, 53, was sentenced to two years in state prison after pleading no contest to one felony count each of grand theft and money laundering.
All four defendants are required to pay more than $1.4 million in restitution under the terms of a negotiated plea agreement.
Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office made the announcement.
Deputy District Attorney Daniel Kinney of the White Collar Crime Division’s Real Estate Fraud Section prosecuted case BA472018.
The case was investigated by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Fraud and Cyber Crimes Bureau.
