An elderly Orange County man was left homeless after being targeted in a fraud scheme that cost him nearly $2 million in losses, officials announced Friday.
According to the Department of Justice, the 78-year-old victim was defrauded by John Tamahere McCabe, 42, of Kailua, Hawaii, who made false promises of brokering the sale of the victim’s yacht.
McCabe confessed to his federal crime on Thursday, pleading guilty to one count of wire fraud. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.
The DOJ said it all started with McCabe offering to help the victim, whose identity was not revealed to the public, to sell his yacht.
“What the victim didn’t know was McCabe used fabricated documents to change the ownership of the yacht to McCabe’s name,” the DOJ explained in a release. “Once in his name, McCabe then diverted the proceeds to his own personal bank account and used most of the proceeds for his own personal purposes.”
Down the line, McCabe also pushed the victim to transfer his million-dollar Irvine home into a limited liability company (LLC) controlled by McCabe.
Without telling the victim, McCabe made himself the sole manager of the LLC and, according to court documents, caused $1 million in loans to be taken out and secured by the victim’s residence, draining all its equity.
McCabe spent the proceeds and then defaulted on the loans. The victim’s home was sold at a foreclosure sale, the DOJ said, “leaving the victim homeless.”
Through this scheme, McCabe defrauded the victim out of about $1,814,000 in total, officials said.
If you or someone you know is age 60 or older and has been a victim of financial fraud, the DOJ said help is available at the National Elder Fraud Hotline: 1-833-FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311).
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