Dixon Real Estate Salesman/Bank Robber Convicted of Mail Fraud, Could Serve 30 Years
On September 22, U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner announced that a federal jury had found former real estate salesman and convicted bank robber Hubert Rotteveel, 52, a resident of Dixon, guilty of one count of mail fraud in connection with his role in a mortgage fraud scam.
Rotteveel, according to court testimony, sold 13 Dixon properties that were purchased by only two buyers. Rotteveel valued the properties’ selling prices higher than the properties were actually worth. He also worked with certain loan officers to generate false information about the two buyers as far as their income and liabilities. This false information was enough to convince lenders to loan money to purchase the 13 properties.
After making down payments on the properties, Rotteveel would get that money (plus more, usually) back when sales closed from the lenders he had defrauded. An escrow officer participated in most of these transactions; after sales closed, this person distributed money to a bank account that had been established for Windmill Properties, a company owned by Rotteveel. The escrow officer neglected to reveal these transactions to the lenders that had made the real estate deals possible.
According to the indictment, Rotteveel netted over $300,000 through these sales in a mere seven months. The lenders lost more than $3 million after the 13 properties underwent foreclosure.
“Rotteveel’s personal greed replaced the integrity maintained by licensed real estate agents,” said Assistant Special Agent in Charge John Gliatta of the Sacramento FBI which investigated the case with the assistance of the IRS. The convicted swindler will be sentenced in U. S. District Court, Eastern District of California on December, 15. He faces maximum statutory penalties of thirty years in prison and a $1 million fine, subject to sentencing guidelines and other factors.
Whatever gain Rotteveel made in his fraudulent transactions apparently were still not enough to get him out of his personal financial troubles. He was arrested on July 1, 2010 for bank robbery. He was accused of two different robberies – at Woodland’s River City Bank, and an hour later, First Northern Bank in West Sacramento. In the second incident, a dye pack exploded on him in front of officers responding to the call. He also used a bike as his getaway vehicle as well, which helped detectives link him to both robberies.
In a 2010 CrimeVoice story by reporter Lauren Keene, Rotteveel blamed the recession and the real estate crash for putting him in a desperate situation, unable to pay his bills and support his family. “I never thought that if you work hard and do the right things, it can all be pulled out from under you,” Rotteveel said in a tearful interview at the Yolo County Jail. “When you’re caught in certain situations, you can lose your compass,” he said. “You’re walking in a gray area and you don’t know right from wrong.”
Rotteveel was already serving his 4 year, 8 month sentence for the bank robberies when he was initially indicted for the mortgage fraud case.
Read More:
CrimeVoice (2012): Suspected bank robber gives jailhouse interview
Davis Enterprise: Disgraced real estate agent indicted on mortgage fraud charges
