Rojas to serve time in state prison.

James Anthony Rojas, a Mission Hills man convicted in a real
estate foreclosure and investment fraud case, was sentenced today to seven
years and eight months in state prison.

 
Deputy District Attorney David Fleck of the Real Estate Fraud Unit said the
sentence ordered by San Fernando Superior Court Judge Alice Hill was the
maximum term that could be imposed against the 51-year-old Rojas.

A jury in Judge Hill’s court deliberated an hour last month before convicting
Rojas of 14 felony counts of grand theft, forgery and attempting to file false
or forged grant and trust deeds. He also was convicted of three misdemeanor
counts of rent skimming.

Victims of the crimes included several Santa Clarita residents and a Long
Beach man who made a $50,000 investment into the
defendant’s foreclosure business with the promise of a return of his principal,
plus $10,000, in 60 days. He never received the funds.

Another victim was a man who lives in the Philippines,
but maintained a condominium in Long Beach.
He bought the condo in 2003. In July 2005, he found a notice to terminate
residency on his door from a company that said it owned the property. Forged
documents had been used to transfer the property.

Other victims included renters who made $1,000-plus deposits on homes in Long
Beach and Sunland. Rojas, said Fleck, had no
connection to the properties.

The crimes occurred between 2005 and 2008.