California Loans News

As housing advocates of Los Angeles launched a campaign of vigilance against mortgage rescue scams, a couple with a property soon to hit foreclosure were charged in torturing two loan modification agents they suspected to perform fraudulent tasks. The couple Daniel Weston and Mary Ann Parmelee and other people allegedly lured the victims, Lamond Dean and Luis Garcia, to an office in Glendale. Spokesperson for the Los Angeles County district attorney Shiara Davila-Morales said that the agents were tied up, held for hours, robbed and beaten.

A statement from the district attorney’s office revealed, “The two allegedly sought loan modification assistance from the victims but believed that nothing was being done and wanted their money back.” Davila-Morales further said that the “police were called after one of the victims managed to escape.”

A criminal complaint filed against Weston, Parmelee and three other defendants stated that they were each charged with two counts of torture, two counts of false imprisonment by violence and two counts of second-degree robbery. Weston, 52, and Parmelee, 51, were arrested last week and set for a bail bond of $1 million each. They share a residential property in La Cañada-Flintridge which was in foreclosure. Davia-Morales said that the couple believed “they had been swindled.”

Weston and Gustavo Canez, 36, were the ones who allegedly carried out the beatings in front of Parmelee, Mario Solomon Gonzales, 47, and Marissa Parker, 49. Prosecutors said that the latter three had previous deals with the agents by referring loan cases to them. Authorities further said that a handgun and wooden knuckles were used in the attack. Gonzales is also facing one count of possession of a deadly weapon. He was allegedly carrying the wooden knuckles.

Parmelee, Gonzales and Parker pleaded not guilty last Friday. Weston and Canez were in court last Monday. The last two’s cases were continued to November 2.

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