RIVERSIDE: Figures in mortgage fraud case charged

Seven people allegedly involved in a massive Riverside County real estate fraud scheme that bilked victims out of more than $140 million, triggered the foreclosure of more than 200 houses and caused home values to plummet in several neighborhoods have been charged with numerous felonies, District Attorney Rod Pacheco announced Thursday.

At a news conference in downtown Riverside, Pacheco said six defendants were in a county jail Thursday afternoon in connection with the Stonewood fraud case. John Hall, a spokesman for the district attorney, said the seventh was arrested at 6:20 p.m. Thursday at a fast-food restaurant in Torrance. More to the story

By LESLIE BERKMAN
The Press-Enterprise

Seven people were arrested Thursday and charged with operating a $142 million mortgage and security fraud that pushed 201 Riverside County homes into foreclosure and harmed hundreds of investors in California and Arizona, driving many to financial ruin.

Those arrested were James Benjamin Duncan, considered the mastermind of the plan, his top associates, Hendrix Moreno Montecastro, 37, and Maurice McLeod, 37, all of Murrieta.

Also taken into custody were Charlie Sung Muk Choi, 34, Cindi Gayle Kelly, 33 and Thuan Nhan Du, 33, all of San Diego, and Helen Moreno Pedrino, 57, Montecastro's mother, of Yucaipa.

The seven are expected to be arraigned Monday, when they could enter pleas.

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