Press Release Date:
June 21, 2011
Ventura County District Attorney Gregory D. Totten announced today that the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office Real Estate Fraud Unit has filed a felony complaint against Aquilino Hernandez (aka Lino Hernandez, DOB 7/5/64) of Bellflower. The felony complaint charges Hernandez with two counts of foreclosure consultant fraud (Civ. Code § 2945.4(a)).
The charges filed against Hernandez arise out of a fraudulent home foreclosure rescue program he ran primarily under the business name of “Terra Bella Management” from his office located at 10054 East Alondra Boulevard in Bellflower, California. Hernandez is alleged to have targeted predominantly monolingual Spanish-speaking residents of Ventura County who were facing foreclosure of their homes. Hernandez is accused of demanding or collecting thousands of dollars in upfront fees from victims while promising to save their homes from foreclosure. In reality, Hernandez completed no actual services for the victims who eventually lost their homes in foreclosure.
Hernandez was arrested in Bellflower , California , on June 21, 2011, by the District Attorney’s Office Bureau of Investigation. The arrest and prosecution of Hernandez is the result of a long-term investigation being conducted by the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office Real Estate Fraud Unit into suspicious home foreclosure rescue schemes and follows the pending felony case of People v. Maria Victoria Santos (Ventura County Superior Court Case No. 2010000667). On February 22, 2011, Santos pled guilty to four felony counts of foreclosure consultant fraud and four counts of felony grand theft. Santos is scheduled to be sentenced on June 28, 2011.
Bail was set at $100,000 for Hernandez. If convicted, Hernandez faces a maximum of three years, eight months in state prison. Individuals who believe they may have been victimized by Hernandez or others working with him may contact the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office Real Estate Fraud Unit at (805) 662-1750 to file a complaint.
Contact:
Dominic Kardum, Deputy District Attorney
(805)662-1739