A pair of Mexican nationals were arrested for fraudulently selling San Diego properties they did not own.
According to the charges brought against them, Victor Hugo Villalobos Almazan and Nayeli Noemi Montoya Rodriguez pretended to be the owners of vacant or undeveloped plots of real estate and sold the properties to unwitting third parties by forging signatures of notaries and wiring the proceeds abroad to bank accounts in Mexico and Jordan. The duo netted nearly $1 million from two illegal real estate sales that occurred between March and April 2023.
The defendants were taken into custody earlier this week upon their arrival at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston on a flight from Mexico. They are being charged with wire fraud conspiracy, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and $250,000 fine, and aggravated identity theft, which carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison, consecutive to the underlying felony.
