(The Center Square) – In a town named for the fabled city of gold – El Dorado, Robert Sedler former president of Grand View Financial LLC discovered that fool’s gold can get you convicted.
“Let this be a strong warning to anyone seeking to steal people’s hard-earned money: We will find you, and we will hold you accountable,” said California Attorney General Rob Bonta.
On May 12, a Sacramento superior court convicted Sedler on 100 felony counts. He will be sentenced on July 21, 2023. Sedler along with Steven Rogers and Audrey Gan were indicted for grand theft, false representation, elder abuse and filing false documentation.
In bringing the case, the trio was indicted on 121 counts involving over a dozen properties. The grand jury heard from 27 witnesses in a scheme that resulted in the loss of over $7 million to property owners from the counties of San Diego, San Mateo, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Joaquin, Placer, Solano, Mendocino, San Francisco, El Dorado, and Sacramento.
Among the financially distressed victims who sought consultation to save their homes were elderly residents seeking mortgage relief services. Steven Rogers and Audrey Gan pleaded guilty before trial, while Sedler chose to go to trial.
Roger, Sedler and Gan operated Grand View Financial, LLC between April 4, 2015 and May 1, 2019. Rogers opened 6 other financial LLCs for registering Deeds of Trust as part of the scheme.
But it was in El Dorado that the criminal enterprise was discovered. On July 5, 2017 District Attorney Investigator, Ted Horlbeck of El Dorado’s District Attorney’s office received a citizen’s complaint on a foreclosed property at 1102 Penniman Drive, El Dorado Hills. The property was purchased at an auction on June 1, 2017 and the purchaser noticed that on June 16, Steven Rogers attached and recorded a Deed of Trust without his knowledge.
The journey of the property’s entanglement with Grand View Financial began on June 21, 2016 when the company unlawfully acquired interest in the residence acting as a foreclosure consultant.
Rogers and Sedler had promised homeowners that they could save their homes from foreclosure and then deed it back to them free and clear of any liens. Their financial “program” which they sold as being backed by the Department of Justice, required homeowners to pay “rent” in the interim.
Before providing all the services Grand View had contracted to perform on behalf of the homeowners at El Dorado Hills, the company received the deed, and transferred the title of the property to themselves.
On the same day in June that they transferred the title, they registered a Deed of Trust from Grand View to Upscale Financial LLC, securing a loan in the amount of $224,000. with the property.
Over the course of a year, July 2016 to May 2017, Grand View received $20,428.60 in rent from the distressed homeowners for which they were eventually charged with grand theft.
Around September 20, 2016, Grand View sought to evict the homeowners from their home through an unlawful detainer complaint, filing what the indictment classified as “procuring or offering a false or forged instrument.” They repeated this felonious filing again on Sept. 1, 2017.
On December 13, 2016, the property was registered in a Deed of Trust filed with North Park Investments, LLC securing a loan for $50,000.
Finally, on June 16, 2016, the property was again registered in a Deed of Trust with Grand View, LLC as the Trustor, Noted Results, LLC as the Trustee and Refreshing Resources, LLC as the Beneficiary of the secured loan in the amount of $50,000. By then the home had been foreclosed and the new purchaser reported the unauthorized Deed of Trust.
California Department of Justice, Fraud and Special Prosecutions Section and White Collar Investigation Team; the United States Office of Inspector General, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; the United States Office of Inspector General, Federal Housing Finance Agency; the United States Trustee Program; the United States Marshals Service; the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office; and the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office and assistance from from the United States Trustees, Los Angeles Field Office cooperated in the investigation which lead to the arrests and indictment of Sedler, Rogers and Gan.
Throughout history, courtiers, governors, explorers and conquistadors have risked it all to discover El Dorado in the hopes of finding great riches. They all instead discovered that the city could not be found – it was indeed a fable.
With the conviction of Robert Sedler, the Department of Justice sent a clear message.
“Individuals who prey on vulnerable communities to enrich themselves will be held accountable by the California Department of Justice. My office will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to identify and prosecute those who disregard the rule of law,” Bonts stated.
This article First appeared in the center square