SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — Federal authorities say two Mexican nationals accused of orchestrating a nearly million-dollar real estate fraud scheme involving San Diego properties were arrested Tuesday after arriving in the United States.
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According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Victor Hugo Villalobos Almazan and Nayeli Noemi Montoya Rodriguez were taken into custody at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, where they had flown in from Mexico. The pair appeared in federal court Wednesday, facing charges of wire fraud conspiracy and aggravated identity theft. A detention and identity hearing is scheduled this week.
Investigators say the two allegedly posed as the rightful owners of vacant or undeveloped San Diego-area properties, forging notary signatures and selling the real estate to unsuspecting buyers. Prosecutors say the defendants then moved the profits to overseas bank accounts in Mexico and Jordan, ultimately taking in close to $1 million from two fraudulent transactions.
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According to the complaint, between March and April 2023, Villalobos impersonated the owner of a parcel of vacant land in San Diego and opened a bank account using a “doing business as” designation matching the real property owner. Officials say he instructed an escrow company to wire the sale proceeds into that account, then transferred most of the funds overseas.
Montoya is accused of carrying out a similar fraud in March 2023, allegedly pretending to be the owner of a property with a vacant structure and selling it for approximately $400,000. Prosecutors say she opened a bank account in her own name under the same “doing business as” tactic and wired much of the money abroad within days…