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Chino man, Jonathan Martinez, 37, has pleaded guilty to felony identity fraud after stealing over $84,000 from a Thousand Oaks family who lost their home in foreclosure. The scheme unfolded when the law firm where Martinez worked offered services for a wrongful potential foreclosure sale against the family in 2021.
An investigation revealed that Martinez intercepted and forged signatures on a check worth over $84,000 made payable to the family. He deposited the funds into his personal account and used them for personal expenses while the victims repeatedly requested updates on their surplus funds from June 2021 until April 2022, which he ignored or excused.
The victims discovered the fraud in April 2022 and filed a crime report. Chase Bank later recovered $30,000 of the stolen funds after interviewing the victims two months later. Martinez still owes over $50,000 in restitution to the victims. He faces up to four years and four months in jail and is scheduled for sentencing on June 6.
