Hopeful buyers lost $6M in fake open house scheme, feds say. CA man going to prison

A 45-year-old man was sentenced to nine years in federal prison after pleading guilty to participating in a $6 million real estate scam in California, prosecutors say.

Adolfo Schoneke of Torrance, California pleaded guilty last May to “one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud,” according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Central District of California.

Schoneke’s sister, Bianca Gonzalez, 39, pleaded guilty last April to her involvement in the scam, according to the news release. She will be sentenced in May 2023.

McClatchy News reached out to Schoneke’s and Gonzalez’s lawyer and is awaiting a response.

The siblings operated escrow and real estate companies in California, where they would list properties with no intent to actually sell the homes to anyone, according to the news release.

“Playing on the dream of home ownership and seemingly out of reach home prices, [Schoneke] figured out a way to ‘sell’ homes that he did not own and had no business in listing for sale,” prosecutors said.

Schoneke and his co-conspirators would hide the fact that these properties were not for sale from the victims – from holding fake open houses to even having them “believe their offer was the only one accepted,” according to officials.

The victims were strung along for long periods of time, with Schoneke and others saying there were delays so the process couldn’t move forward yet, officials said.

The accused would have “office workers” open bank accounts to hide the fraudulent money transfers, officials said. After receiving the down payments for the bogus homes, the victims were asked to send the full “purchase price,” according to prosecutors

Making the money harder to trace, the workers would take out large amounts from the accounts, according to the news release.

An estimated $11.7 million was initially stolen from numerous victims. Some were paid back, but about 400 victims lost a total of around $6 million in the scheme, officials said.

“I understand that I have made a bad decision that has impacted my entire life, I realize that what I did was a huge mistake, and for that, I will forever be regretful,” Schoneke said in a letter to U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner.

A restitution hearing for Schoneke is set for December.

This story was originally published October 25, 2022 at 4:44 PM with the headline "Hopeful buyers lost $6M in fake open house scheme, feds say. CA man going to prison."