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  • November 30, 1999

Archives For November 30, 1999

A.G. Sues Operators of Foreclosure Scam Targeting Elderly Arizonans

Stephanie Abbott —  August 25, 2025 — Leave a comment

Edward Trenton Albarracin (aka Trenton Edwards) and Gretchen Marie Zamjahn (aka Gretchen Edwards), along with more than 50 entities they controlled, have a had a lawsuit filed against them for allegedly running a predatory real estate scheme that stripped vulnerable homeowners of their property.

The defendants operated under several misleading names such as “Hands with Hope,” advertising themselves as professionals who could “rescue” homeowners from foreclosure.

According to the complaint, their promises were a lie. Instead of helping homeowners in need, Albarracin and Zamjahn tricked them into signing over the deeds to their homes.

Details of scheme:

  • The defendants contacted homeowners facing foreclosure and offered to bring their mortgages current so they could remain in their homes.
  • Victims were told they needed to “temporarily” transfer the deed into a trust.
  • In reality, those deeds were transferred to deceptively named shell LLCs such as “Lupo Family Trust, LLC,” which were entirely controlled by Albarracin.
  • Albarracin signed the deeds on behalf of the companies, while Zamjahn illegally notarized the transactions, despite having a direct financial interest as his spouse.
  • Victims were further misled and pressured to file false bankruptcy or probate cases to prolong the scam.

Attorney General Kris Mayes made the announcement today.

“These scammers pretended to offer a lifeline to homeowners in crisis — but in reality, they were stealing people’s homes out from under them,” said Attorney General Mayes. “This scheme specifically targeted elderly Arizonans who were already struggling, and it used lies, shell companies, and even illegal notarizations to pull it off. Let me be clear: anyone who tries to profit by exploiting vulnerable Arizonans will be held accountable by my office.”

Attorney General Mayes’ lawsuit alleges unfair practices under the Arizona Consumer Fraud Act and exploitation of vulnerable adults under the Adult Protective Services Act. The complaint also seeks to void any transactions improperly notarized by Zamjahn.

Given the scope of the fraud and concerns over the defendant’s’ financial situation, Attorney General Mayes also sought an emergency receivership over all of Albarracin and Zamjahn’s assets. On August 20,2025 Judge Scott Minder granted the request and appointed Peter Davis as receiver to secure the defendants’ real estate, vehicles, and cash accounts.

Evidence presented to the court also showed that Albarracin, who recently suffered a series of strokes following a cancer diagnosis, may himself now be vulnerable to financial exploitation by others, furthering the need of a receivership.

Attorney General Mayes is seeking restitution for victim, civil penalties against the real estate operators, and a permanent injunction preventing Albarracin and Zamjahn from buying or selling real estate in Arizona ever again.

Attorney General Mayes also urges Arizonans to come forward if they believe they have been approached by strangers offering to buy their home or pressured to sign over their deed.

“I will go after any scam artists targeting homeowners, especially those targeting vulnerable adults and senior citizens” said Attorney General Mayes. “I urge anyone who believes they’ve been victimized to contact my office immediately.”

The case, State of Arizona v. Edward Trenton Albarracin, Gretchen Zamjahn, et al., No. CV2025-029139, is being handled by Senior Litigation Counsel Shane Ham and Assistant Attorneys General Liza Lawson and Suzanne Pendergast of the Consumer Protection and Advocacy Section.

 

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Man Sentenced To 46 Months In Federal Prison For Mortgage Fraud

Stephanie Abbott —  May 12, 2023 — Leave a comment

Johnny Fior, 48, Cape Coral, Florida has been sentenced to 46 months in federal prison for wire fraud and illegal monetary transactions.

According to court documents, Fior committed the fraud by engaging in two different fraud schemes. With the first scheme, Fior convinced two individuals, by false and fraudulent pretenses, to serve as private investors/lenders for short-term balloon loans that were secured by mortgages on real properties in Lee County, Florida. To accomplish the scheme and give the investors the impression that their funded loans were secured by real property, Fior fraudulently filed fictitious mortgage deeds, promissory notes, and mortgage satisfactions. Additionally, Fior provided the investors interest-only payments to further delay repayment of the loans and requested loan repayment extensions to further prolong the scheme. Fior diverted the investors’ funds for his own personal use and none of the funds were used for their intended purpose.

In the second scheme, Fior, in his role as a real estate closing agent, diverted funds intended to be used to pay off property sellers’ existing mortgages to himself during real estate closings. In furtherance of the scheme, Fior created and caused the creation of real estate settlement statements that falsely represented a seller’s mortgage was repaid during the real estate closing process. Additionally, Fior created fake and fictitious bank statements, lender correspondence, wire transfer records, cashier’s checks, deposit records, and shipment records that fraudulently represented a seller’s mortgage had been paid or that the mortgage pay-off funds were submitted. As a result of the second scheme, two separate title insurance companies suffered a total loss of approximately $977,330.23.  

As part of his sentence, the court also entered an order of forfeiture in the amount of $1,404,169.74, which were the proceeds of the wire fraud and illegal monetary transaction offenses. Fior had pleaded guilty on January 18, 2023.

 This case was investigated by the FBI. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Trent Reichling.

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Duo Sentenced In HUD Fraud Scheme

Stephanie Abbott —  November 1, 2019 — Leave a comment

Sergio Garcia, Sr., 50, Chicago, Illinois and Sergio Garcia, Jr., 30, of Lowell, Indianapolis were sentenced on their guilty pleas to conspiracy to commit mail fraud.

According to documents in the case, between January 1, 2011 and May 31, 2014, the Garcias conspired with others to engage in a scheme to defraud HUD and to obtain money and property by means of false pretenses, representations and promises.  The scheme involved contracting with HUD to buy more than 87 homes in Indiana and Illinois and attempting to sell them for a profit the same day. The purchase contracts the conspirators provided to HUD stated that they or one of their businesses were purchasing the properties as investors and would pay with cash or use other financing not involving FHA. To support their claimed ability to pay for the homes, the conspirators mailed fraudulent letters purporting to show that they or their company had access to the funds needed to complete each purchase.  Many of the letters purported to be written by a private venture capital business and falsely stated that the Garcias or their business held a line of credit of up to $500,000.00, when in fact, as the conspirators well knew: the letters were forged and counterfeited; the lines of credit referenced therein did not exist; and the signatures thereon were forged and unauthorized.

Once under contract to purchase homes from HUD, the conspirators advertised the homes for subsequent resale and placed their own “for sale” signs at the homes. When the conspirators could not find a subsequent purchaser to buy the homes, they allowed their purchase contracts with HUD to expire and filed false liens on the homes for the full purchase price, impeding HUD’s ability to sell the homes to others. In some instances, the conspirators demanded money from would-be subsequent purchasers to release the false liens on the HUD-owned homes.

Garcia, Sr. was sentenced to serve 70 months in prison followed by 2 years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $471,571.06 in restitution to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) and $3,862 in restitution to other victims of his crime.

Garcia, Jr. was sentenced to serve 18 months in prison followed by 1 year of supervised release and was ordered to pay $24,819.53 in restitution to HUD and $202.25 to other victims of his crime

“This sentencing serves as an example that when housing professionals defraud the system of rules sponsored by  HUD, the HUD Office of Inspector General will continue to partner with both the U. S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI to pursue those individuals to ensure the integrity of its federal housing programs.”

“If you attempt to defraud the system and violate public trust, we will find you, we will investigate you, and we will ensure you are held accountable for your illegal actions,” said Special Agent in Charge Grant Mendenhall, FBI Indianapolis. “Today’s sentence should serve as a warning to others that the FBI and our partners will continue to pursue those who would seek to blatantly commit fraud.”

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the HUD Office of Inspector General.  The case was handled by Assistant United States Attorney Jill R. Koster.

 

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