Santos, who has three children, told investigators she had no idea she was involved in anything illegal. She had answered a help-wanted ad to be the "U.S. financial representative" for a firm selling time-shares in Mexico, according to court papers and Santos' husband.
Santos told investigators that her employer, a woman she knew only as Laura, told her to open post office boxes and bank accounts in her own name. Every few days, Laura would call Santos and tell her there was mail waiting for her. Santos would retrieve it, deposit it, keep $100 for herself and wire the rest of the money to Laura in Mexico. (Investigators believe Laura is Isuara Hernandez.)
Birch told Santos she had been involved in defrauding people. She also warned her that other people who had worked for Hernandez in a similar capacity had recently been arrested. Finally, Birch told Santos not to pick up any more checks from the post office box.
But two weeks later, Birch got a call from the manager of the North Hills Post Office. Santos had signed for two packages, he said. She then deposited checks at a bank and withdrew $5,963 in cash, according to court records.
Santos was arrested March 11. She pleaded guilty and on May 20 was sentenced to two years in prison.
Her husband, Dimas Santos, said his wife "was only trying to feed her children." He said it is not fair that his wife, who was told she was working for a time-share company, is in jail while Hernandez and Perez remain at large.
Castellanos, meanwhile, was able to work out a loan modification with her real bank, allowing her family to stay in their Hesperia home.
But authorities say that for every happy ending, there are plenty more people likely to fall victim, especially as the economy continues to sputter. Officials at the Department of Real Estate said there were 230,000 foreclosures in California last year, with as many or more expected this year.
That makes a lot of potential victims, noted Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown. "People are desperate," he added. "Desperate people do desperate things."
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jessica.garrison@latimes.com
