A financial executive and a real estate broker were indicted Tuesday in San Diego on wire and mail fraud conspiracy and identity theft charges for their alleged roles in a massive scheme that generated nearly $50 million in fraudulently obtained loan proceeds.
According to the indictment, Peter Cash Doye, 41, and real estate broker and notary public Raquel Reid, 38, defrauded lenders into making enormous loans against four multimillion-dollar mansions in La Jolla and Del Mar, then used forged documents to make it appear that the loans had been paid off, enabling them to secure additional loans from new lenders who believed the mansions were owned “free and clear.”
Less than a month ago, according to the Arizona Daily Star, a federal jury in Tucson acquitted Doye in an $18.4 million real estate fraud scheme.
Doye was indicted in August 2016 on 17 counts of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, Arizona court records show.
The new indictment alleges that Doye, a senior executive at the real estate investment firm known both as Conix Inc. and Variant Commercial Real Estate, negotiated the financing from unsuspecting lenders and investors based on a host of lies about the collateral used to secure the loans.
To pull off the scam, Doye, Reid and their co-conspirators allegedly created forged real estate lien “releases” and recorded fraudulent records at the San Diego County Recorder’s Office, wreaking havoc on the chain of title for the homes. Reid notarized the forged documents, helping to make the fraudulent paperwork appear authentic, according to the indictment.
Doye’s business partner, Courtland Gettel, and Arizona attorney Jeffrey Greenberg both admitted taking part in the scheme.
According to their plea agreements, Gettel was the owner of Conix and VCRE, which refurbished single-family homes, purchased distressed debt, and purchased and refurbished commercial real estate projects.
As part of his guilty plea last year, Gettel admitted that he and Doye acquired the high-end homes in La Jolla and Del Mar by claiming they would be used as luxury rentals and investment properties when, in fact, Gettel and Doye lived in the properties with their families, according to prosecutors.
When they needed money to fund other business deals, Gettel and Doye began negotiating with new lenders, pretending that the first loans never existed or had already been paid off, prosecutors allege. Greenberg admitted that he used his expertise as a lawyer to generate and record fraudulent records, making it appear that prior loans were paid off, according to the indictment.
In late 2014, the lenders uncovered the fraud, and began to discover that their secured interests in the properties were worthless. In response to questions from the lenders, Gettel, Doye and Reid agreed to falsely deny knowing anything about the fraudulent loans, and created more fraudulent documents to cover their tracks, court papers allege.
For example, Reid destroyed her notary book, cut up her notary stamp, and falsely reported to the California Secretary of State that it had been lost, according to the indictment.
— City News Service contributed to this report.