CHULA VISTA, Calif. — Brenda Ann Gregory, 54, and her husband Angel Alfonso Gutierrez, 55, would sell property they didn’t own using fraudulent documents, according to the Riverside County District Attorney’s office.
The couple was arrested in March at a Chula Vista RV park where they were living. Gregory and Gutierrez have been charged with recording false documents, grand theft, identify theft, and money laundering.
The investigation began in September 2020 when the owner of a property in Norco contacted authorities after he got a courtesy notice from the Riverside County Recorder’s Office notifying him that a grant deed had been recorded on his property. The owner went to his property and found a “for sale” sign.
DA investigators determined other fraudulent sales and purchases of properties in Arizona and Texas were linked to the scheme. In many cases, the payments in the alleged scheme were made to different trusts and sent to a post office box in Garland, Texas. The couple often used fake names of Joel R. Silva or Jose M. Garcia as trustees of those trusts.
The investigation is ongoing and authorities are asking anyone who conducted transactions with the couple or made payments to the Song Family Trust or the Amacker Family Trust to contact authorities.
If you may be a victim with a property in Riverside County, call the DA’s Real Estate Fraud Hotline at (877) 723-7779. If the property is outside Riverside County, please contact authorities in that area that handle real estate fraud.
