VENTURA, CA - District Attorney Gregory D. Totten announced today that the District Attorney’s Office has received an award of $423,573 to continue its efforts in investigating and prosecuting real estate and mortgage fraud cases in Ventura County. The grant award derives from a stipulated judgment obtained by the California Attorney General’s Office in the case of the People of the State of California v. Countrywide Financial Corporation. Funds from this settlement are aimed at funding local county efforts to combat mortgage and foreclosure fraud.

The grant application filed by the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office was submitted to the California Attorney General’s Office in June 2011 and included letters of support from California Congresswoman Lois Capps, the Ventura County Bar Association, the Ventura County Coastal Association of Realtors, the Ventura County Real Estate Fraud Advisory Team, and the Cabrillo Economic Development Corporation. The grant application also included numerous letters of support from local victims of real estate fraud served by the Ventura County District Attorney’s Real Estate Fraud Unit.

This grant award will allow the District Attorney’s Office to continue its efforts to investigate and prosecute suspects victimizing county residents in fraudulent real estate deals and illegal schemes such as foreclosure rescue fraud. Funds from the 2012 Foreclosure Crisis Recovery Grant will provide the financial resources to staff one deputy district attorney, one district attorney investigator and one investigative assistant for one year. These positions are vitally important to the District Attorney’s aggressive approach to prosecuting real estate fraud occurring in Ventura County. Currently, the Ventura County District Attorney’s Real Estate Fraud Unit is reviewing 55 cases and has over 104 cases pending investigation.