CA Residents charged with Mortgage Fraud and Marijuana Manufacturing

United States Attorney Lawrence G. Brown, Drug Enforcement Agency Assistant Special Agent in Charge, Gordon Taylor and Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge, Scott O’Briant in a press conference made the announcement about the indictments set forth by a Sacramento Federal Grand Jury regarding eighteen individuals who have been indicted on mortgage fraud; which is a separate indictment and the manufacturing of marijuana.

The eighteen individuals named in the indictment are all from the Bay Area and have been charged with conspiracy to manufacture one thousand marijuana plants; the manufacturing of over one thousand marijuana plants and five the individuals have been charged with twenty six counts of mail fraud resulting from mortgage fraud. One individual is charged with indictments in for the mortgage fraud and the marijuana charges.

The individuals charged in the marijuana conspiracy in Stockton, California are Dickson Wing Kei Hung, 35, Jiang Hong Liang, 28, En Hao Lin, 23, and Rui Liu, 22 all from San Francisco.

The individuals charged in the marijuana conspiracy in Lathrop, California are Zhi Yong Lin, 50, from San Francisco, Khin “Kenny” Ung, 49, from San Leandro, Kong Yuan Li, 46, from Castro Valley, Lian Z Li, 41, from Alameda, Lup Park Li, 39, from San Francisco.

The individuals charged in the marijuana conspiracy in Sacramento and Elk Grove, California are Dennis Hou Huan Yang, 35, Can Hui Zhen, 32, Simig Zhu, 32, all from San Francisco and Guo “Ivan” Ying Lu, 29 from Milpitas.

The individuals charged with mortgage fraud are as follows: Dennis Hou Huan Yang, 35, Karen N. Lee, 29, Ngai Chung Hung, 28 and Wing Chou Chan, 27, all from San Francisco and Wayne Rong Zhi Feng, 29 from Oakland.

The indictments charge that the defendants ran a refined, large scale commercial manufacturing plant in over fifty residential single family homes located in Sacramento, Tracy, Stockton, Lathrop, Elk Grove, and Modesto, California between 2006 and 2007. The number of marijuana plants seized by law enforcement while executing warrants totaled over twenty four thousand five hundred.

The indoor marijuana manufacturing investigations lead to the indictments for mortgage and mail fraud of five defendants. The five defendants committed the fraud between March and October of 2006. They purchased twenty six residential homes in Stockton in order to convert them into marijuana growing plants. Some of the homes identified in the investigation were still waiting to be converted in to the marijuana cultivation. The mortgage fraud schemes lead to several financial institutions and mortgage lenders lending over fifteen million dollars in residential loans.

The initial indictment from 2006 and 2007 resulted in fifteen individuals pleading guilty to the manufacturing of marijuana plants and the manufacture of marijuana plants. Two initials are at large and have yet to be enter their pleas.

The individuals charged with manufacture of marijuana and the manufacturing of marijuana plants face a maximum sentence of life in prison and a minimum sentence of ten years in prison.

The individuals charged with mail fraud face a sentence of a maximum of twenty years in federal prison; however the sentence is at the discretion of the court after any considerations of the federal sentencing guidelines.

The case was investigated by The Drug Enforcement Administration, the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations Division, The Elk Grove, Stockton and Lathrop Police Departments. Assistance from the Bay Area local, state and federal law enforcement agencies along with the United States Attorney’s Office for Northern District of California was also provided.

The United States Attorney Brown stated that the individuals indicted were from the Bay Area they chose Central Valley to perpetrate the scheme because Central Valley had lower housing prices. The individuals failed to realize that residents in these neighborhoods care and are proud and the residents worked with local law enforcement to assist in bringing them to justice.

Agent Taylor of the DEA stated that operation Marvin Gardens was a crackdown on one of the biggest indoor marijuana growing organizations in the nation. The Bay Area crime ring invaded the Central Valley communities and impacted the real estate, mortgage and utility companies. The resulting success of the operation would not be possible without the cooperation of all the law enforcement agencies involved.