Using fake identities and purchase agreements and forged loan applications, four people allegedly cooked up a months-long scheme to sell a Burbank house with neither the homeowner nor the buyer being aware of the $1.5-million deal.
The group, which included a licensed real estate broker, falsified signatures, submitted fraudulent loan applications and even discussed using disguises to pose as the buyers and sellers to push the deal through, according to a federal complaint, and the defendants planned to pocket the loan of nearly $1 million used to buy the house.
The scheme was not uncovered until after the sale closed in 2024 and one of the suspects got a hefty wire deposit.
On Wednesday, federal officials announced the arrests of Glenis Cardona, 63, a broker from Highland; Ivan Reyes, 50, of Van Nuys; and Arshak Akopyan, 46, of Northridge. Officials also are searching for Basil Tikriti, 54, of Marina del Rey, who allegedly played a role in the scheme.
Tikriti, according to the federal complaint, has a criminal history, with convictions for identity theft and grand theft.
According to the complaint, the plot was discovered when federal investigators came across a message about it while pursuing a separate but related mortgage fraud scheme.
In that case, an FBI agent discovered suspicious WhatsApp and Signal messages. The owner of the phone, according to the complaint, is now considered a cooperating witness for federal agents.
Burbank Police already had been investigating, according to the indictment, after the owner told police his home had been sold without his knowledge. The supposed buyer also spoke with Burbank Police, telling officers they were unaware of the purchase and now were in debt for a $975,000 mortgage.
FBI agents discovered the cooperating witness had been in contact with a Signal user identified as “GDL.” The two discussed several properties, including whether they had any liens and whether the two could get physical access to them.
Then on Oct. 31, 2023, “GDL” sent the witness the address to the Burbank house, the owner’s name, social security number, date of birth, driver’s license number and a message that the property was “ready to go…My boy has the keys.”
The defendants also discussed trying to recruit someone to pose as the buyer and fretted over whether they could find someone who looked old enough to play the part in front of a notary.
“I don’t have old 65 yr old guys at my disposal to play ball,” Tikriti messaged the cooperating witness at one point. “I’m not a casting director.”
Tikriti suggested he could spray the person’s hair gray and give him a cane so he could look to be in his 60s.
The sale closed on Jan. 3, 2024, according to the complaint, and on the same day, Cardona’s U.S. Bank account received a $60,000 wire transfer. Cardona then made several large purchases, spending more than $18,000 at a car dealership and thousands of dollars at Target, TJ Maxx, Coach and Nordstrom Rack stores.
Money from the loan also was sent to various third-party entities so the other defendants could get their cut, according to prosecutors. But the scheme began to fall apart when employees of those operations returned some of the wire transfers and began to raise concerns about possible fraud.
Some of the money, for example, was sent to a company that purchases gold, but an employee became suspicious when someone called and said they would be picking up the gold. The person called from a number registered to the Burbank homeowner but identified themselves by a different name.
The employee then called the homeowner, who alerted the employee to the possible fraud.
The title company that insured the transaction also flagged the purchase.
The defendants face up to 30 years in prison if convicted.
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