Former Delta Homes & Lending Inc. Employees Sentenced for Mortgage Fraud Scheme

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge John A. Mendez sentenced two Sacramento residents each to two years in prison for conspiring to commit wire fraud, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced. Ruben Rodriguez, 43, and Jaime Mayorga, 41, were convicted at a jury trial in April 2019.

According to court documents, between October 2004 and May 2007, Rodriguez and Mayorga were employees of Delta Homes and Lending Inc., a now-defunct Sacramento-based real estate and mortgage lending company that was founded by co-defendant Moctezuma “Mo” Tovar. Rodriguez, Mayorga, Tovar, and other Delta Homes employees and co-defendants Manuel Herrera, Sandra Hermosillo, Jun Michael Dirain, and Christian Parada Renteria agreed to commit fraud to obtain home loans from mortgage lenders. As part of the scheme, Rodriguez and Mayorga submitted fraudulent mortgage loan applications and supporting documents, which falsely represented the borrowers’ assets and income, liabilities and debts, employment status, citizenship status, and intent to occupy the property. Rodriguez and Mayorga also provided money to the borrowers in order to inflate their bank account balances. Once the loans were secured, the borrowers returned the money. The aggregate sales 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 Moctezuma Tovar, 50, of Sacramento, was sentenced to 4 ½ years in prison. Co‑defendant Manuel Herrera, of Davis, was sentenced to one year in prison. Co-defendant Jun Michael Dirain, 47, of Antelope, was sentenced to six months in prison, followed by six months of home detention. Co-defendant Sandra Hermosillo, 57, of Woodland, was sentenced to 9 months of home detention. Co-defendant Christian Parada Renteria, 43, formerly of Sacramento, pleaded guilty to 2 counts of concealing felonies related to the wire fraud conspiracy, and was previously sentenced to serve 1 year in prison.