After winning Modesto officers’ trust, man accused of preying on their friends

You can trust a cop, right? But you might think twice about his refi guy.

A Southern California man helped several Modesto police officers with home loan modifications. They told friends who told friends, bringing him more business, but now the man is in trouble with the law for tactics that prosecutors say are illegal.

“I should have been more skeptical,” a Ceres person believed to have been a victim told an investigator with the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office real estate fraud unit. “But he said he had worked with a bunch of cops. If you are a con artist … I think those would be the people you would want to avoid.”

Alejandro “Alex” Brito, 29, apparently enjoyed a good reputation within the Modesto Police Department. A few officers, or their spouses or relatives, referred acquaintances to Brito, and his company made more than $1 million across California from 2010 to 2013, an arrest warrant affidavit says.

But one man thought something smelled fishy when Brito arranged for the man to deed 5 percent of his Modesto home to a Los Angeles woman he didn’t know, plus Brito wanted $3,500 for his trouble, the document says. The man called the district attorney’s fraud unit, launching an investigation that led this year to Brito’s arrest on 14 felony counts including grand theft, forgery and violating foreclosure law.

Reached Thursday by telephone, Brito said he would like to be helpful but declined to comment. His office is in Beverly Hills, according to social media; records show previous addresses in Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

His Modesto attorney, Kirk McAllister, said Friday that Brito is “a bright young man” with “a lot of satisfied customers” who now enjoy more affordable loan rates, thanks to Brito’s good work. Authorities ought to go after banks for mortgage fraud, McAllister said, but instead pick on small players “because it’s easier to go after the little people, even successful little people.”

Brito was proud of the eight to 10 loan modifications he had done for Modesto police officers, district attorney investigator Glenn Gulley said in the affidavit. Gulley quoted Brito as saying, “My name became so well-known” within the department, and “I do come very highly recommended,” and “police officers … recommend me for a good reason.”

His trouble, the affidavit suggests, stems from cases in which homeowners had fallen behind in payments and faced imminent foreclosure. When Brito didn’t feel he had time to negotiate a new loan with a lender, his associate would find a straw investor going through an unrelated bankruptcy and direct the homeowner to deed a fraction of the property’s value – typically 5 percent – to that person, according to the affidavit. His or her bankruptcy would then stall the foreclosure, often for 30 days.

That’s called bankruptcy dumping. It’s illegal on various levels, especially if someone has no idea his or her bankruptcy is being used to enable someone else to avoid foreclosure, or if someone forges names on deeds, or if advance fees are charged to avoid foreclosure, or if a government office is used to record phony documents.

Two local people authorities say were Brito’s victims lost their homes despite having paid him $1,200 to $6,055.

The affidavit doesn’t say whether such violations occurred with Modesto officers’ homes, which technically would make them victims. But Gulley’s investigation led to five suspected victims in Stanislaus County – two in Modesto and one each in Riverbank, Ceres and Keyes – plus a sixth in Tracy, the affidavit says.

“The only reason I trusted” Brito, the Ceres homeowner told Gulley, was because a police officer told him “four of five other cops in Modesto PD had talked to him and it worked out fine. So I figured you’re not going to be a con artist … ripping off cops, you know,” the affidavit says.

The Modesto Bee was unable to reach the officers. Chief Galen Carroll said he was aware when the District Attorney’s Office investigation started a couple of years ago.

“I’m always concerned about how (negative news) reflects on our department,” Carroll said. “When we looked into it, there was no criminal wrongdoing by any officers. It was a more a matter of, ‘Hey, do you know anybody who does this?’ Just like any workplace, if you’re looking for a painter, you might say, ‘Hey, this guy worked out for me.’ ”

Also arrested and charged with seven felonies was Jorge Martinez, 37, of Covina. The next date for Martinez and Brito in Stanislaus Superior Court is Nov. 29.

This story was originally published November 7, 2016 at 4:35 PM with the headline "After winning Modesto officers’ trust, man accused of preying on their friends."