Angelo Gabriel Naemi
Santa Barbara County – As if rents and home costs weren’t already spiraling wildly out of control, there are those unscrupulous real estate professionals who apparently work hard to overcharge borrowers, lenders, and loan guarantors, using false paperwork and fraudulent transactions to commit grand theft.
Two such alleged fraudulent actors are Angelo Gabriel Naemi, 36, and Steven Paul Gonzalez, 61, both residents of Santa Maria. According to the criminal complaint filed against them by the Santa Barbara District Attorney’s Office the led to the arrest of both men on December 15th, Naemi was a licensed real estate salesperson working under the brokerage license held by Gonzalez when they “conspired to falsify documents in association with numerous short sale transactions.”
In announcing the arrests, Santa Barbara County District Attorney Joyce Dudley asserted “their actions allegedly resulted in a loss to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac of over $500,000.” The criminal complaints filed against both men involve “special allegations for aggravated white collar crime and excessive losses.”
The suspect transactions are reported to have involved the sales of multiple residential properties in both Santa Maria and Lompoc. Gonzalez, the owner and operator of Cornerstone Real Estate in Santa Maria where Naemi is registered as a sales agent, was not booked into county jail, but was provided with arrest documents calling for his appearance in Santa Barbara Superior Court on December 30th.
Naemi wasn’t so lucky, having been handcuffed at his office and transported to Santa Barbara County Jail where he was booked on conspiracy and grand theft charges with his bail set at $395,000.
Photo: Courtesy Santa Barbara County Jail Booking
