Scam mastermind sentenced

Two more participants in the local mortgage-fraud scheme that garnered national attention have been sentenced for their respective roles in the multimillion-dollar caper.

On Aug. 10, Garret Griffith Gililland III was sentenced in federal court to seven years and 10 months in prison and three years of supervised release for his role in the scam that involved local builders Anthony Symmes and William Baker.

Gililland, 31, was the mastermind behind the operation that began in 2006, ran for about two years and involved some 70 newly constructed houses that were sold, for the most part, to buyers who didn’t exist for greatly inflated prices using mortgage lenders from out of the area.

The scam began just as local housing sales began to slow, and has been blamed for the sharp drop in property values that led to many foreclosures.

Meanwhile, Shane Burreson, 39, of Orland, was sentenced to 23 months in prison and a three-year term of supervised release.

Both men pleaded guilty last year to mail fraud and money laundering. They ran a Chico company called Nor-Cal Innovative Investments.

“The fraud scheme in this case was audacious in scope, and those involved in the scheme are paying a steep price for their criminal conduct,” said U.S. Attorney Ben Wagner. “Mortgage fraud remains a top priority of this office, and we are continuing to vigorously investigate and pursue such cases.”

According to a press release, Judge Edward Garcia said that in sentencing Gililland he considered the defendant’s “substantial assistance” to the feds’ prosecution of other mortgage-fraud defendants. He balanced that cooperation against the fact the Gililland and his common-law wife, Nicole Magpusao, fled from their Canyon Oaks home in 2008 with $250,000 in cash and landed in Colombia, where they purchased a nightclub. When that didn’t work out they went to Spain, where they were eventually forcibly extradited back to California in 2009, initially to be held in the Butte County Jail before getting transferred to Sacramento.

During the couple’s stay in Spain, another defendant in the case, Remy Heng, whom Gililland referred to as his “unofficial banker,” stuffed $20,000 into a Pringles potato-chip container and sent it to Gililland. FBI agents intercepted the container, removed the cash and sent it along empty.

Magpusao, who also pleaded guilty, was sentenced to time served. Symmes pleaded guilty early in the case and helped prosecutors by wearing a wire and recording conversations with other suspects. He was sentenced earlier this year to two years and 11 months in prison. He’s also paid $4 million in restitution.

Other players who’ve pleaded guilty and have been sentenced include Baker, 66, who got only 18 months due, according to a press release, to his frail health. The owner of Baker & Baker Construction, he was indicted in June 2010 for falsifying the sales price of five houses he built and sold in 2007. He kicked back money—$160,000 altogether—to his fellow conspirators after escrow closed on the houses

Niche Savon Fortune, 39, also of Chico, received four years and nine months’ prison time. His sister, Kesha Haynie, 41, was convicted in March after a six-day trial, and is scheduled for sentencing Aug. 24.

The operation was uncovered by Butte County Sheriff’s Office deputies, who began stumbling across foreclosed homes that had indoor marijuana grows. The Butte County District Attorney’s Office began an investigation that eventually moved into federal jurisdiction.

“It was one piece at a time,” said District Attorney Mike Ramsey of the investigation. “They slowly started putting it together, and once it got beyond our borders, both county and then state, we said we needed to get the feds involved.”