Phoenix real estate company owner sentenced to prison
Mar 23, 2018, 7:35 PM | Updated: Mar 24, 2018, 7:37 pm
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PHOENIX — Francisco Aguirre, owner of Montecristo Properties, was sentenced to 7.5 years in prison Friday for defrauding 40 Arizona families, according to the office of Attorney General Mark Brnovich.
He will also face six years probation after his release and must pay back $2 million in full restitution to the families he scammed.
“Aguirre’s actions were absolutely despicable,” Attorney General Mark Brnovich said. “He preyed on Hispanic families by using his multimedia broadcast show to put himself in a position of trust in the community.
“These families believed Aguirre would help them turn their dream of home ownership into a reality, instead they were scammed out of their life savings.”
From 2013 to 2015, Aguirre, through his companies — Montecristo Properties LLC., Montecristo Property Investments LLC. and San Marino Property Investments LLC. — targeted mostly Spanish-speaking families who were looking at buying a home. The families believed they had purchased a home only to find out they never owned the house or their names were not on the title.
In January of 2018, Aguirre pleaded guilty to one count of fraudulent schemes and artifices, one count of theft and two counts of forgery.
Because of this, many families were forced to vacate the homes even after they shelled out thousands of dollars in what they thought were down or mortgage payments. Aguirre even “sold” a home twice to two separate victims in numerous cases.