A Walnut resident has recently received a sentence of three years and 10 months in federal prison for her involvement in a large-scale real estate fraud. Bianca Gonzalez, 41, worked in collaboration with her brother, Adolfo Schoneke, 46, to orchestrate this elaborate scheme, which resulted in an estimated $6 million in losses for unsuspecting victims.
Gonzalez had previously pleaded guilty to the charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, as confirmed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, while her brother was sentenced to nine years in prison in October 2022.
The pair, along with their co-conspirators, operated various real estate and escrow companies in Cerritos, La Palma, and Long Beach under different names, including MCR and West Coast. Their modus operandi involved listing properties for sale without proper authorization and marketing them as short sales at below-market prices.
In their quest to deceive buyers, Schoneke and Gonzalez utilized the licenses of others in the real estate industry to list these illegitimate properties on websites like the Multiple Listing Service. Some homes were even showcased through fraudulent open houses, where unwitting homeowners were tricked into allowing their properties to be used.
As part of the elaborate scheme, the fraudsters would accept multiple offers for each property, leading victims to believe that their offers were exclusively accepted. They would then prolong the process by claiming that delays were due to lenders approving the short sales.
The duo instructed office workers to open bank accounts in their names and used these accounts to deposit down payments and other funds from victims. After victims received forged sale documents, they were convinced to transfer the full “purchase price,” resulting in significant financial losses.
Authorities estimate that several hundred individuals fell victim to this fraudulent operation, collectively losing more than $6 million.
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