AVONDALE, Ariz. — An arrest was made yesterday in Avondale after a "fraudulent" deed was used to facilitate the sale of a property belonging to someone else.
Brian Gonzalez, 33, was taken into custody outside a local Starbucks after he allegedly signed paperwork with a notary to finalize a fraudulent home sale, court records show.
The investigation dates back to November 2023 when a fraudulent warranty deed was submitted to the Maricopa County Recorder's Office to transfer a Scottsdale property to a new owner who goes by the initials V.L.
Court records show the person going by V.L. signed a contract on March 28 to sell the property for $420,000.
The original owner of the property was contacted and confirmed they were not trying to sell the residence and wasn't familiar with V.L.
A meeting had been arranged on April 10 for the seller to sign the sale documents with a notary. During the meeting at Starbucks, Gonzalez allegedly signed the documents and presented a driver's license with the V.L. name matching the identity on the fraudulent deed.
Gonzalez was booked into jail and is facing charges of fraud and forgery.
The use of fake deeds to conduct fraudulent real estate transactions has become a trend in Arizona over the last few years. In 2022, the state attorney general's office issued an alert to homeowners about how scammers could transfer the deed of their home to someone else's name.
The scheme appears to be most common for empty properties or rental homes owned by people living out of state.
