A 23-year-old probationer accused of posing as a Riverside-area property manager and fraudulently renting out apartments and homes to collect deposits from unsuspecting victims is scheduled to make his first court appearance next week.
Daniel Christopher Felix Castro is charged with real estate fraud and probation violations for offenses allegedly committed at the start of the year.
Castro was arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service in Las Vegas this month and returned to Riverside County last week.
Castro is being held in lieu of $50,000 bail at the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside and is slated to be arraigned on April 1 at the Riverside Hall of Justice.
The hearing may be postponed because of the court’s restrictions stemming from the coronavirus outbreak.
According to Riverside Police Department Officer Ryan Railsback, detectives from the department’s Economic Crimes Unit learned in January Castro allegedly had been advertising local properties for lease, putting himself forward as the leasing agent when, in fact, he had no connection to the vacant residences whatsoever.
“After soliciting and collecting cash payments from the victims, the suspect would cease all contact,” Railsback said, adding that when victims discovered they had been deceived, Castro could not be located.
Prosecutors have only charged Castro in connection with the Riverside cases, but it is alleged that he perpetrated similar fraud in neighboring counties.
Anyone with information related to the case was asked to contact the police department at 951-353-7117.
According to court records, Castro has prior convictions for felony evading and driving on a suspended license.