Three Camarillo Residents Plead Guilty to Bank Fraud

Three Camarillo residents have pleaded guilty to federal bank fraud charges.

Raul Rocha, Luis Ramos, and Rosa Amelia Fernandez were arrested in 2010 as part of the Department of Justice’s “Operation Stolen Dreams” that targeted 1,215 people across the nation.

The three Camarillo residents were charged with filing fradulent loan applications for a period of six years starting in 2003.  According to the plea, the fradulent applications caused banks to make $35 millions in loans.

The investigation began in 2006 when authorities received complaints from real estate agents who thought colleagues may be engaged in illegal loan practices.

“We quickly discovered that members of the real estate community here in Ventura County were getting rich by exploiting lending institutions through deceit and fraud,” District Attorney Greg Totten said at the time of the 2010 arrests.

Totten said Fernandez was an agent at Mortech Financial. In 2005 she closed 105 loans and made a commission of $800,000, according to Totten.

Sentencing is scheduled for May for Ramos and Roacha, and August for Fernandez.