Juan Rangel, 46, who is already in federal custody after his conviction last year for bribing a bank manager at Bank of America, was charged in a 16-count indictment that was returned by a federal grand jury on September 22.
In relation to the Ponzi scheme, the indictment alleges that Rangel and his company, the Commerce-based Financial Plus Investments, recruited new investors through Spanish-language newspapers and magazines, as well as in radio advertisements and infomercials broadcast on television. Rangel and Financial Plus promised to pay investors guaranteed returns of 60 percent each year out of the profits from Financial Plus’ real estate investments and lending business. The indictment alleges that Financial Plus did not make any actual profits from real estate or lending, and that Rangel instead used the victims’ money to make Ponzi payments to other investors, as well as for his own personal use, including the monthly mortgage payments on his $3 million home, to make monthly lease payments for his Lamborghini sports car and a limousine, and to buy cocaine.
In the related mortgage fraud scheme, the indictment alleges that Rangel and others targeted Latino homeowners who were at risk of losing their homes and offered to help them avoid foreclosure. Rather than assist them, however, the indictment alleges that Rangel took titles to their homes and drained the remaining equity out of the properties. As part of this scheme, Rangel arranged to sell the homeowners’ properties, usually without their knowledge, to third-party straw buyers. He then applied for loans in the straw buyers’ names related to these supposed purchases, and used a variety of falsified documents to ensure that the fraudulent loans were approved. The proceeds from these loans went to Rangel and his companies. The indictment alleges that this scheme was successful in duping mortgage lenders into approving more than $10 million in fraudulent loans.
United States Attorney And
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