Thread: CO-Scammers sold homes they didn't own, Grand Jury charges

Scammers sold homes they didn't own, Grand Jury charges

Posted: 08/022012

By Tegan Hanlon
The Denver Post

Alfonso Carrillo is charged with 18 separate counts involving violation of the Colorado Organized Crime Control Act, multiple counts of theft, burglary and criminal trespass. (Photo provided by Denver Police Department)

The Denver Grand Jury has indicted two men in connection with a series of real estate scams targeting homeowners facing foreclosure and Spanish-speaking would-be homebuyers.

Alfonso Carrillo , 50, and his associate Rudy Breda , 53, are both charged with violating the Colorado Organized Crime Control Act and face multiple counts of theft, burglary and criminal trespass. Carrillo is charged with 18 counts and Breda with 10 counts.

The indictment, filed in Denver District Court Thursday, alleges that Carrillo found homeowners facing foreclosure and, for a nominal fee, convinced them to relinquish their property.

He misrepresented it as a way to avoid foreclosure. Carrillo and Breda would then allegedly sell the properties using phony documents.


Rudy Breda is charged with 10 separate counts involving violation of the Colorado Organized Crime Control Act, multiple counts of theft, burglary and criminal trespass. (Photo provided by Denver Police Department)

The charges also allege that the duo would illegally gain access to empty homes, taking thousands of dollars in payments from unsuspecting buyers. Once the buyers were discovered by mortgage lenders or the actual property owners, they were forced to vacate the properties.

Carrillo and Breda allegedly targeted Spanish-speaking home buyers who were often undocumented, according to the indictment.

Arrest warrants have been issued for both men with a bond set at $750,000 for Carrillo and $20,000 for Breda.

Carrillo already faces multiple felony counts of theft and forgery, but the earlier charges will be dismissed. The next court date for Carrillo and Breda has not been set.

The indictment also alleges Jose Caraveo , 39, and Veronica Fernandez-Beleta , 40 , broke into a home and remained there unlawfully from April 2011 to August 2012.

They are being charged with first-degree criminal trespass and second-degree burglary.

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