Founder of Delta Homes and Former Employees Sentenced for Mortgage Fraud Scheme

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Today, Senior U.S. District Judge William B. Shubb sentenced three defendants for conspiring to commit wire fraud in a mortgage fraud scheme, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.

Moctezuma “Mo” Tovar, 50, of Sacramento, was sentenced to four years and six months in prison; Jun Michael Dirain, 47, of Antelope, was sentenced to six months in prison, followed by six months of home detention; and Sandra Hermosillo, 57, of Woodland, was sentenced to nine months of home detention.

According to court documents, Tovar was the founder and president of Delta Homes and Lending Inc., a now-defunct Sacramento-based real estate and mortgage lending company. Delta Homes opened one office in 2003 and eventually had several offices in Sacramento and Woodland. As the president of Delta Homes, Tovar managed the day-to-day operations of the company and prepared and submitted residential home loan applications on behalf of Delta Homes’ clients. Dirain was a loan processor at Delta Homes, and Hermosillo was a loan officer at the Woodland office and was also responsible for submitting residential home loan applications on behalf of clients.

Between October 2004 and May 2007, Tovar, Dirain, and Hermosillo conspired along with others to obtain home loans from mortgage lenders based upon false and fraudulent loan applications and supporting documents that falsely represented the borrowers’ assets and income, liabilities and debts, and employment status. They provided money to the borrowers in order to inflate their bank account balances. Once the loans were secured, the borrowers returned the money to the defendants. The aggregate sale price of the homes involved in the overall conspiracy was in excess of $10 million. As a result of the conspiracy, mortgage lenders and others suffered losses of at least $4 million.

This case was the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brian A. Fogerty and Justin L. Lee prosecuted the case.

Co-defendant Christian Parada Renteria, 43, formerly of Sacramento, pleaded guilty to two counts of concealing felonies related to the wire fraud conspiracy, and was previously sentenced to serve one year in prison.

Co-defendant Manuel Herrera, 39, of Davis, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and co-defendants Jaime Mayorga, 40, and Ruben Rodriguez, 42, both of Sacramento, were convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud at a jury trial. Herrera will be sentenced by Judge Shubb on a date to be determined. Mayorga and Rodriguez will be sentenced by U.S. District Judge John A. Mendez on Nov. 5. Each defendant faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.