Ventura County couple's dream collapses after email scam

A Ventura County couple put all the pieces together to buy the home they wanted in Newbury Park: They picked it out, wired more than $200,000 for a down payment, and drove by every day for weeks to check it out.

Then everything came crashing down last year when their money was stolen as part of a real estate fraud scheme. This is a type of fraud in which criminals posing as trusted sources trick home buyers into sending money to complete transactions; sometimes in six-figure amounts, they can be difficult, if not impossible, to track and recover.

The FBI highlighted the problem and steps taken to prevent it in a report to Congress in 2022, touching on the prevalence of this type of fraud and its impact on individual victims. According to the FBI report, these people may be home buyers who transferred their life savings.

The couple told a Ventura County judge their lives were shattered.

“We feel violated that someone feels they have the right to steal our future, our life savings, the home of our dreams, and our ability to leave behind a home for our children,” the couple said in a victim impact statement submitted to Judge Robert Schuit. September.

The property they settled on in Newbury Park offers a single-story home in a tree-filled neighborhood. Their 3-year-old was told she could choose paint and decor before the fraud was discovered.

“Our world collapsed before our eyes,” the couple told the court.

The couple declined to be identified for publication to protect their privacy, and The Star does not name the victims of the crime.

Two Georgia residents were sentenced to prison for money laundering in connection with the loss and ordered to repay the money. Although one had already paid $5,000 and authorities refunded $33,500 from the account the other held, this still leaves a large sum unpaid.

The defendant, Abdul Aziz Bah, 30, was sentenced to prison for money laundering in late September after pleading guilty. One of the defendants, Jasmine Shante Faniel, 39, was sentenced to prison a month after Bah after pleading guilty to receiving stolen goods and money laundering.

At sentencing, Schuit told Faniel that this type of crime can cause more serious harm to victims than violent crimes.

“You changed the course of someone’s life,” he said.

International connections

Prosecutor Dominic Kardum said Bah and Faniel were money mules while a major criminal operation in West Africa and parts of Europe masterminded the fraud. This term refers to people who move illegally obtained money on behalf of someone else and help launder the proceeds.

The District Attorney’s Office said when Bah pleaded guilty in August that he created several fake companies to receive and launder money. He then divided the money into smaller amounts and transferred the money to fake named bank accounts linked to fake companies under Faniel’s control, prosecutors said.

Kardum said he then transferred the funds to other unidentified co-conspirators who could not be prosecuted because they were outside the jurisdiction of law enforcement.

The defendants retained only part of the money; Bah reportedly received around $6,000 and Faniel around $10,000. Kardum said most of the remaining funds were laundered through international auto auctions and then diverted to Nigeria or to Nigerian citizens outside the United States.

Reported losses increased 72% nationally but remain rare locally

Real estate wire fraud is part of what is called business email breaching, which entails the use of legitimate business email accounts to conduct unauthorized money transfers across a variety of industries.

According to a report published by the FBI in 2023, reported losses due to business email compromise in the United States reached $2.95 billion last year, a 23% increase in two years. While it may seem rare in Ventura County, from 2020 to 2022, real estate-related losses increased 72% to nearly half a billion dollars.

In this case and others across the country, criminals slightly manipulate email addresses to commit crimes, a technique known as spoofing.

The local couple wired $201,294 to a bank account after receiving instructions via email from the escrow company from which they purchased the home. However, the prosecutor’s office said the money went to an account opened by Bah, not to the escrow company.

Authorities still don’t know who sent the emails, Kardum said. The address was changed from the legitimate address of an officer of the escrow company, largely by using dot mail instead of dot com in the address and moving the @ sign to a different spot.

Network security, the tool in question

The Ventura County couple thought it was too early in the escrow process to wire the money but sent the funds at the advice of their real estate agent, according to a lawsuit they filed against the agent, the real estate company advising them, and the escrow company. Two weeks later, the escrow company notified them that the email address was fake, according to a court document.

In their lawsuit, they alleged that the escrow company was negligent in protecting its network and/or email systems. This allowed the fraudster to obtain the couple’s file, email address and information about the transaction, according to the lawsuit. The company denied liability.

It is unclear why this particular escrow company was targeted. Kardum said the criminal investigation did not uncover any evidence of criminal involvement by anyone at the escrow company.

“These scams are carried out by hackers and very knowledgeable individuals who break into computer servers abroad and gain access to computer servers,” he said.

The defendant had lost hope

Assistant public defender Andrea Neumann, who represents Faniel, said her client became involved at a low point in his life when “a friend of a friend” suggested the arrangement as a way to generate some income. Neumann said Faniel had suffered a series of family tragedies, including the murder of his brother, had three major car accidents, was depressed and lost hope.

“He seized the opportunity, and it came at great cost,” Neumann said.

Faniel was held in jail on $1 million bail. The courts increased the amount from the original $200,000 after the prosecution argued that he was a flight risk because he had access to large amounts of cash and did not respect the court’s authority to make legal orders against him.

According to Kardum’s motion to increase bail, he describes himself as a Moorish sovereign citizen. According to the Anti-Defamation League, they are part of a movement that claims the government is the illegitimate product of a conspiracy that overthrew the original, legal government.

Faniel filed IRS documents against 10 local judges, Kardum, and District Attorney Erik Nasarenko; Kardum said it was a clear effort to have them removed from the case due to conflict of interest. He said he failed.

Schuit sentenced both Bah and Faniel to two years of official probation plus prison. Bah was sentenced to one year in prison and Faniel to nine months; they had already served most of these sentences while waiting for the case to be resolved. Neither had a prior criminal record, according to court documents.

According to the report submitted to the court, Bah told probation officers that he did not know Faniel. He denied receiving any stolen property, engaging in money laundering or impersonating someone else to obtain more than $200,000. He admitted that he had mistakenly withdrawn $2,000 with a debit card delivered to his home and said he was ready to pay the restitution.

In his statement to parole officials, Faniel reportedly admitted to the allegations outlined in the police report but refused to discuss his actions. Faniel said he is ready to complete his parole and pay restitution. Both stated that they wanted to rebuild their lives.

Take precautions against falling victim to fraud

The FBI and the DA’s office have released tips on how to prevent real estate wire fraud. These include ensuring that addresses in emails are associated with the businesses or individuals they claim to come from, using two-factor authentication, being wary of hyperlinks containing misspellings, avoiding providing login credentials or personal identification information via email, and reporting suspected contacts. It is located. Immediately escalate problems to law enforcement and financial institutions.

If recipients are told by an escrow office to send money via money order or cashier’s check via email, phone or text message, they should independently verify the instructions by calling the escrow agent associated with that transaction before sending the money, the DA’s office said.

Brooke Grayson, president of the Conejo Simi Moorpark Association of Realtors, said real estate agents often put warnings about wire fraud in their emails. Grayson said they traditionally give notice when making agreements with buyers to represent them and with sellers to list properties.

But broker Jorge DeLeon said he believes more and more scammers are acquiring the skills to target real estate. He suspects they may be tempted to strike, especially in California and other parts of the U.S. because of high-dollar housing prices.

“Technology is an extraordinary tool, but if not used properly, we can expose our clients to potential losses,” said DeLeon, executive director of the district’s real estate fraud advisory team and president of the CENTURY 21 real estate franchise.

Reports of real estate wire fraud to law enforcement in Ventura County are rare, Kardum said. He attributes this to the DA’s office’s outreach and education programs for the public and the real estate industry, as well as the vigilance of real estate professionals.

“This is a bigger issue nationally, but locally we’ve done our best to tackle it.”

Kathleen Wilson covers courts, mental health and local government for the Ventura County Star. Reach her at [email protected].

International connections

Reported losses increased 72% nationally but remain rare locally

Network security, the tool in question

The defendant had lost hope

Take precautions against falling victim to fraud

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