Detectives bust Ponzi scheme
Suspect Mariana Monte. Redondo Beach Police Department detectives have arrested a local woman on suspicion of operating a Ponzi scheme targeting Latin immigrants that victimized at least 55 people for more than $500,000. Mariana Montes, 41, of Redondo Beach, was arrested on Dec. 29. Police were attempting to locate her for an outstanding arrest warrant on another crime – elder financial abuse – when they uncovered records that allegedly revealed a far-ranging Ponzi scheme with victims from Sacramento to Arizona. “She was busy,” said Lt. Joe Hoffman, head of the RBPD detective bureau. According to Hoffman, detectives originally became interested in Montes when they discovered an elderly woman with whom she had served as a caregiver who’d lost her house after Montes repeatedly refinanced her home loans. “She had basically lived with and helped care for this elderly woman for many years, and then back about five or six years ago began a series of refinances and ended up keeping all the money, which was almost $600,000,” Hoffman said. “It caused the woman to lose her home because of the amount of debt she owed on the home.” After the woman lost her home and went into assisted living…
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