Four indicted in ‘squatter’ cases (updated)

Things just keep getting worse for both families caught up in the Mabre Court real-estate scandal, with one indicted on criminal charges and the other still homeless.

On Aug. 2, a Denver grand jury indicted Jose Caraveo, 39, and Veronica Fernandez-Beleta, 40, of first-degree criminal trespass and second-degree burglary, both felonies. The grand jury found there is enough evidence to charge the couple with knowingly breaking into the home of Troy and Dayna Donovan and living there illegally. Denver DA spokesperson Lynn Kimbrough said an arrest warrant was issued, and police will go to the home if they don’t turn themselves in.

Also indicted were Alfonso Carrillo, 50, and Rudy Breda, 53, who each face racketeering charges on top of multiple counts of theft, burglary and criminal trespass, all felonies. Carrillo is charged with 18 separate counts; Breda with 10.

Fernandez-Beleta says Carrillo offered to help her family obtain the house for $5,000, and she believed he was legitimate. On July 23, Fernandez-Beleta’s daughter Caren said her mom doesn’t know what to believe now.

“If it turns out Alfonso did defraud us, then she’ll cooperate with the investigation so they can stop him from doing it to anyone else,” said Caren. “But if it turns out it’s not really the Donovans’, we’re going to fight to keep the house.”

According to a press release, the indictment alleges Carrillo and Breda found homeowners facing foreclosure and convinced them to relinquish their properties for a nominal fee, misrepresenting it as a way to avoid foreclosure, then “selling” the homes using phony documents. They’re also accused breaking into empty homes and taking thousands of dollars in payments from unsuspecting “buyers” – often Spanish-speaking people who were undocumented and fearful of law enforcement. The “buyers” were forced out when mortgage lenders or the actual property owners discovered them.

The trouble for these two families all started last year, when the Donovans ran into financial dire straits. Troy Donovan finally got a job with a race team in Indiana, and his wife says she winterized the house and joined him there in August.

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