Seal Beach : Man Is Arrested in Loan-Fraud Scheme
A Diamond Bar man was arrested on suspicion of forging his mother’s signature and using her Seal Beach home as collateral in securing a $158,000 loan, authorities said Tuesday.
Frank Ernest Cutler, 43, was arrested by Orange County sheriff’s deputies without incident at his Rocky Trail Road home Monday evening, 18 months after obtaining the funds through Mission Viejo Home Loans.
Sheriff’s spokesman Lt. Richard J. Olson said Tuesday that Cutler was suspected of forging the signature of his mother, Ruth Cutler, on a quit claim deed to her property--with a claim that she had turned it over to him as a gift. Cutler then filed the fraudulent quit claim and a fraudulent deed of trust with the county recorder’s office before seeking the loan.
Loan authorities, unaware of the fraud, passed the money on to Cutler after finding a lender. The victim, according to Olson, is the Fidelity National Title Insurance Co. of Irvine, the ultimate insurer for the loan.
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