Bureau of Investigation and Intelligence and Bureau of Gambling Control racking up impressive victories
Source: editor@cslea.com
Date: 6/16/2010
Their brothers and sisters in the Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement had been grabbing a lot of headlines of late, but Special Agents in the bureaus of Gambling Control and Investigation and Intelligence at the California Department of Justice have been making news of their own with some impressive arrests.
Borrow $100,000, Owe $400,000
The Big Circle Boys, a violent gang from China, had been preying on gamblers at Sacramento-area tribal casinos, coming to the rescue of high-rollers with loans as much as $100,000 with only 5 percent interest. Such a deal. Until, the payback rates started running up to $400,000, and God pity what might happen to your relatives back in the homeland if you made any trouble.
Working with the FBI and Sacramento Police, Special Agents with DOJ's Bureau of Gambling Control stepped in to make five arrests in a suspected loan-sharking scheme that claimed 40 victims. More information is available here.
Bail Set at $29.5 Million
The appropriately named Sean McConville cooled his heels in a Travis County, Texas, while awaiting extradition to California, after Special Agents with DOJ's Bureau of Investigation and Intelligence ended the home-refinancing scheme of ALG Capital, Inc.
According to a news release by the attorney general's office, "... from April 2007 to October 2008, the owners and their associates lured dozens of borrowers into refinancing home loans by falsely promising low interest rates, minimal broker fees and other attractive terms. The brokerage then negotiated different terms with lenders.
"When homeowners were presented with closing documents, they bore the terms promised, but which the lenders never approved. After homeowners signed the closing documents, key pages were removed and replaced with pages bearing the terms that the lender had actually agreed to. The homeowners' signatures were then forged on the replacement pages, and ALG forwarded the forged documents to the escrow company.
"Homeowners only discovered they had been defrauded when they received the final loan documents with the true terms and their signatures forged on closing cost disclosures, Truth-in-Lending disclosures, loan applications and other documents."
BII Special Agents Asking Public for Information
Special Agents with the Bureau of Investigation and Intelligence are asking the public for any information it might have on Kevin Lee Francois to come forward. According to the Imperial Valley Chronicle and Tribune, "Police believe Francois primarily targeted college-age women who lived in residential areas near colleges. At times, he is suspected of breaking into homes and returning at a later date to assault a resident. He attended major sporting events around the world, including the Olympics, the Final Four College Basketball Tournament and the Super Bowl.
"In January 2010, Newport Beach police arrested Francois, who was loitering around an apartment complex. His DNA sample, taken when he was booked on a felony charge of resisting an officer, matched DNA from a 2003 burglary and rape in Tempe, Arizona. As of Jan. 1, 2009, a DNA sample is taken from adults in California arrested for a felony.
"Working with Arizona law enforcement officials, special agents with the California Department of Justice obtained a search warrant for Francois' Fullerton residence. There, the agents found evidence indicating that Francois may be responsible for other burglaries and assaults throughout the United States over decades. Among the items found were more than 300 school and government photo identifications, hundreds of photos of unknown females, and worn women's underwear.
"Francois remains in custody at the Orange County Sheriff's Department while awaiting extradition to Arizona."
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