The owner of Montecristo Properties, Francisco Aguirre, pleaded guilty to defrauding 40 families in a real estate scam. Aguirre pleaded guilty to one count of Fraudulent Schemes and Artifices, one count of Theft, and two counts of Forgery. Under the plea agreement, Aguirre will spend 7.5 years in prison. He must also pay $2 million in full restitution to the victims.
From 2013 to 2015, Aguirre defrauded families who wanted to buy homes. The families believed they were purchasing homes from Aguirre and gave him a down payment. The victims also made monthly payments as mortgage payments only to find out they never owned or had a title to the home. Many of the families were forced to vacate the homes after they had already paid Aguirre thousands of dollars in what they believed were down payments and monthly mortgage payments. In some cases, Aguirre attempted to sell the same home twice to two separate victims.
Aguirre carried out his fraud scheme through his companies Montecristo Properties, LLC, Montecristo Property Investments, LLC, and San Marino Property Investments, LLC. Aguirre operated his businesses out of a building called “The Office Pile” in Phoenix, AZ.
Aguirre will be sentenced on February 12, 2018 at 8:30 am.