By Khalida Sarwari
A 34-year-old San Jose man pleaded guilty in Santa Clara County Superior Court in San Jose Thursday to swindling more than 40 investors out of nearly $1.6 million in a real estate scheme.
Reyes Alcaraz pleaded guilty to nine felony charges, including one count of grand theft, one count of selling an unqualified security, one count of misrepresentation or omission of material fact in the sale of a security, five counts of insufficient funds check, and one count of money laundering, according to the district attorney’s office.
An investigation headed by the San Jose Police Department, the district attorney’s office, and the California Franchise Tax Board revealed that Alcaraz was involved in the scheme from 2006 to 2009 as part of a business called Safe Recovery.
Alcaraz’s victims were mostly Spanish-speaking immigrants who he convinced to invest in a business that allegedly rescued residential real estate properties from foreclosure, according to the district attorney’s office.
He signed contracts with the investors promising high rates of return over short terms but defaulted on many of the contracts, the district attorney’s office said.
Alcaraz solicited and obtained money from investors and wrote insufficient funds checks and checks drawn on closed accounts. More than 40 investors lost an estimated $1.6 million in Alcaraz’s scheme.
On Aug. 3, Alcaraz will be sentenced to seven years in state prison, the district attorney’s office said.