Victor Chen, Deputy District Attorney of the Economic Crimes Unit reported this week that the Santa Clara DA’s Office, in alignment with law enforcement officers, busted several members of a San Jose ring of scam artists.
“We suspect that the defendants targeted many of their victims because they were undocumented and would not report the crimes,” said prosecutor Victor Chen. “We are here to help crime victims regardless of their immigration status.”
These scam artists stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from their victims by pretending to invest their money in a variety of businesses, many of them empty storefronts.
Maria Penaloza, 37, Efrain Lechuga, 34, Javier Betancourt, 52, and Araceli Cabrera,23, all of San Jose have been named in twenty-three felony counts, including securities fraud violations, grand theft in excess of $500,000, and passing bad checks.
Suspects Javier Betancourt and Araceli Cabrera
Each suspect faces up to 33 counts. The suspected ring leader, Penaloza, faces up to 33 years in prison for the fraud. She was arrested on July 16 in Bastrop, Texas. Investigators believe the ring targeted investors in Texas, Los Angeles, Chicago and Seattle. Penaloza will be extradited in the coming days to San Jose to face charges. Cabrera and Betancourt were both arrested in San Jose this past week. Lechuga, Penaloza’s husband, remains at large.
Chen said “To date, investigators have discovered seventeen victims – mostly from San Jose and Los Angeles – who invested more than $700,000 with Penaloza and her ring between December 2012 and June 2013”.
The victims were persuaded that their money was going to be put into “Inversiones Monarcas,” “Gabriela Santana Salon,” and “Centravel.” However, many of the businesses were only registered business names, and empty storefronts use to help scam each investor.
Anyone with information on this case, or who believes they may have been victimized by this investment ring, is encouraged to call Investigator Corona of the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office at (408) 792-2637.
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San Jose Mercury News: Four charged in investment scam that bilked Latinos oput of more than $700K