Theft of someone’s property through fraudulent means is a growing concern across the nation, and according to the District Attorney’s Office, San Luis Obispo County is included in the list of places where this is occurring.
“The first known incident,” a District Attorney’s Office news release said, “was reported to the Office of the District Attorney’s Real Estate Fraud Unit in April of 2023.”
That case led to creating an information sharing network made available to all real estate professionals “and other entities involved in real estate transactions” in SLO County.
“This provided real estate professionals with a direct point of contact in reporting suspected real estate fraud,” the D.A. said.
It appears to be working well. “Since the communication network was created, District Attorney Investigators have identified 120 properties in San Luis Obispo County that have been targeted.
“Many of the properties have been targeted multiple times. In almost all instances, a potential sale was blocked due to this reporting system.”
So far, they said they’re batting a thousand. “There are no successfully completed fraudulent sales in San Luis Obispo County that have been reported to us as of this date [Jan. 29, 2025].”
Eric Vitale, senior investigator with the Real Estate & Financial Crimes Division, told Estero Bay News, “Probably one of the reasons that SLO County is being targeted so heavily is due to the values of the vacant lots. Morro Bay and Los Osos are targeted heavily.”
They even conducted a few undercover stings in the war against these thieves. “District Attorney Investigators,” the release said, “have conducted numerous covert operations to learn the strategies being deployed in these fraud schemes.
“They have identified 24 notaries whose commission stamps have been compromised and 70 bank accounts that were being used for the movement of the funds. Many of the accounts were opened by people whom they themselves had fallen for a different fraud scheme.”
The news release relayed information about one such sting operation that nabbed a crook, A Nigerian man from Florida.
“After a year-long covert operation related to an attempted fraudulent sale of a vacant lot in Nipomo, District Attorney Investigators baited an individual to San Luis Obispo on the premise he would be collecting the proceeds from the fraudulent sale.
“On Nov. 21, 2025,” the D.A. said, “Oluwaseun Okuwa, a Nigerian and resident of Miami Gardens, Fla., met with undercover investigators at the San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport after he exited his flight.
“Okuwa was shown a certified check, issued in his name in the amount of $304,000.”
He first had to sign fake documents before they could make the arrest. “Okuwa then signed a document claiming he was a family member of one of the property owners and that he had been directed to collect the proceeds from the sale of the property on their behalf.”
Investigators had already checked with the actual owner of the lot, so they had him dead to rights.
“The property owner had previously confirmed they did not know Okuwa and had never authorized anyone to try and sell their vacant lot,” the release explained.
Once he signed the document, he was arrested by D.A. Investigators and charged with “attempted grand theft,” a felony. This led to getting a search warrant to comb through his phone by the D.A.’s Central Coast Forensic Lab, which led to another case, this one back on the East Coast.
“The analysis netted additional evidence implicating Okuwa to other criminal fraud activity to include a fraudulent real estate transaction in Virginia.
“The property owner and handling escrow company were immediately notified and the transaction was stopped.”
Turns out he was connected to organized crime.
“Text communications between Okuwa and members of a Transnational Organized Crime Group were also located in Okuwa’s phone. The communications included the orchestration of fraudulent activity.”
Okuwa pled guilty to the felony charges and was sentenced Jan. 22 to 12 months in County Jail for attempted grand theft and six months for identity theft, the D.A. said.
The transnational aspect of the case, as well as the interstate nature of a Florida man trying to commit fraud in California, brings the FBI into the matter.
“According to the FBI,” the D.A. said, “Transnational Organized Crime (TOC) groups are associations of individuals who operate, wholly or in part, by illegal means.
“There is no single structure under which TOC groups function — they vary from hierarchies to clans, networks, and cells, and may evolve into other structures.
“TOC groups are looking to make money and often commit crimes such as drug trafficking, migrant smuggling, human trafficking, money laundering, firearms trafficking, illegal gambling, extortion, creating and selling counterfeit goods, property smuggling, and cybercrime. The vast sums of money involved can compromise legitimate economies and have a direct impact on governments through the corruption of public officials.”
Vitale added, “The average property value being targeted county wide is about $300,000. The highest being $1.8 million in Pismo Beach.
“I have had a couple in North County exceeding $1 million.”
The question arises about local vacant lots, especially in Cayucos, which has subdivisions that exist only on paper, the so-called “paper lots” on the hillside above Gilbert Avenue.
Those would seem to be ripe for fraudsters to target people who don’t know that the County has declared them to be unbuildable due to the steep slopes and potential for landslides.
“Yes,” Vitale said, “there are some paper lots in the Cayucos and Cambria area that are in the low $20,000’s. Again, my average [124 properties targeted] is about $300,000.”
Having this scourge reach SLO County prompted the D.A.’s Office to conduct a series of seminars on real estate fraud, one for the public and one for real estate professionals that were held in January.
D.A. Dan Dow issued some tips on how these scams work:
• They begin by impersonating legitimate property owners in San Luis Obispo County.
• They then remotely contact unsuspecting real estate agents and request the property be listed for sale.
• When an offer is accepted from a legitimate buyer, a transaction is initiated with a title company.
• The impersonators request the documents get sent to them by way of email, citing they are out of the area and cannot meet with the escrow officer in person.
• Often, the impersonators claim they are undergoing cancer treatment and must utilize their own notary. The required escrow documents containing forged signatures and a fraudulent notary stamp are then shipped back to the title company.
If readers would like to know more on these criminal organizations, the FBI has a web page dedicated to them, see: www.fbi.gov/investigate/transnational-organized-crime.
The D.A.’s Office also has some advice for owners of undeveloped properties. “Owners of undeveloped lots that do not have any encumbrances are encouraged to check their property address using a trusted real estate website such as Zillow or MLS (Multiple Listing Service) to determine if their property has been fraudulently listed for sale.
“Additionally, owners may conduct a property title search using the County Clerk-Recorder website official record search (see: sanluisobispocountyca-web.tylerhost.net/SLOWeb).
If you discover that your property has been fraudulently listed for sale or sold, contact District Attorney Senior Investigator, Eric Vitale immediately at (805) 781-5868 or via email at: evitale@co.slo.ca.us.
