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El Sobrante man pleads not guilty in mortgage lender's killing
By Malaika Fraley CONTRA COSTA TIMES
May 08, 2008
MARTINEZ — Two men, including a teenager who is also a suspect in a San Pablo gang-related killing, have been charged in an alleged real estate scam that prosecutors said led to the murder of a San Ramon mortgage broker last month.
Javier Gomez, 18, and Miguel Alverado, aka Miguel Angel Alvarado, 33, are charged with five felonies in a plan to defraud a bank by using a fictitious name to buy a North Richmond property owned by Reginald James Robinson.
Robinson, 31, of El Sobrante, pleaded not guilty Thursday to murder and solicitation of murder in the death of his longtime business associate, 42-year-old Kashmir Billon, who was shot to death in a San Ramon business park April 27.
A criminal complaint filed against Gomez and Alverado on Monday alleges that they conspired with others to defraud a bank of more than $400,000 during the purchase of the Robinson property.
Deputy District Attorney Harold Jewett said it is unclear what Billon, who financed the property purchase, knew about the scam. "We have no evidence at this time that he (Billon) was doing anything illegal," Jewett said.
Robinson either shot Billon himself or hired someone else to do it, Jewett said. When news spread of Billon's death, a man told police that Robinson attempted to hire him to carry out the killing.
That man is primed to be a witness for the prosecution, and his credibility will be explored during criminal proceedings, said attorney John Burris, head of the Oakland law firm representing Robinson.
"We still don't know who this person is," Burris said. "There are a lot of issues that could affect his credibility and will be brought out."
Burris said his client has not been charged with any crime related to the real estate scam.
When San Ramon police obtained $100,000 arrest warrants Monday for Gomez and Alverado in connection with the bid for the North Richmond house, Gomez was already in custody in West County Jail on suspicion of murder. He was arrested April 30 in a San Pablo shooting on April 26 that killed a 27-year-old man. Police named Gomez as the shooter.
Jewett said he would not discuss whether Gomez could be involved in Billon's killing outside of the real estate scam.
Deputy District Attorney Ken McCormick said the scam was a classic "flipping scheme" in which a bank loan is taken out in a fake name to finance the purchase of a property, and then payments to the bank are never made. The bank has no one to go after to get its money back because the person whose name the loan is in doesn't exist.
Alverado offered Gomez $1,000 to use a fake name to sign documents for the purchase of a house on Seventh Street in Richmond from Robinson's company, RR Finance Co., McCormick said.
RR Finance was selling the house for $495,000, an inflated price given the size of the unit and neighborhood. RR Finance Co. brought the property for $210,000 in August 2006, county records show. Robinson razed the single house on the land and had two houses built. The purchase and subsequent construction of two houses were financed by Billon, prosecutors said.
Alverado gave Gomez a fake California driver's license and Resident Alien Card with the name "Francisco Ayala Marinero," which Gomez used to apply for a $417,000 mortgage loan from JP Morgan Chase Bank on April 16, the complaint said.
The money was to go to Robinson's company for the house sale. Alverado expected to earn $21,000 for his part in recruiting Gomez when escrow closed April 28, the day after Billon was killed.
Alverado deposited $82,555 into an escrow account to finalize purchase, but escrow was canceled when the loan money did not come through. McCormick said it is unclear who pulled the plug on the sale.
Gomez and Alverado were arraigned in a Martinez courtroom on Wednesday on charges of conspiracy to commit crime, burglary, forgery, making a false financial statement and attempted false filing. Alverado, represented by a private attorney, pleaded not guilty. Gomez did not enter a plea, and his case was assigned to the Public Defender's Office.
Gomez, and 20-year-olds Oscar Menendez of San Pablo and Jose Amending of Williams are scheduled to enter pleas in the San Pablo homicide today.
Police said Gomez, a Richmond resident, and the two other men — all alleged gang members — were driving around West County on April 27 looking to shoot rival gang members when they came across Rico McIntosh walking home from a party, San Pablo police said.
Gomez shot McIntosh, who was not affiliated with any gang, after the men asked the victim, "Are you a buster?" McIntosh died of his injuries two days later.
Reach Malaika Fraley at mfraley@bayareanewsgroup.com .
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