A 65-year-old man was sentenced to four years in prison for his part in a real estate fraud scheme that bilked lenders out of about $5.9 million, according to court records obtained Friday.
Ronald Cedric Touchard pleaded guilty in August 2023 to multiple counts of grand theft with a sentencing enhancement of aggravated white collar crime exceeding $500,000, procuring or offering a false or forged document to be filed, registered or recorded. Touchard was sentenced Wednesday.
Co-defendant Misty Denise Touchard, 49, pleaded guilty May 30, 2023 to a felony count of receiving stolen property and was sentenced to six months in jail, according to court records.
Prosecutors charged the couple in 2018 with orchestrating the fraud scheme.
According to prosecutors, Ronald Touchard filed phony documents in Delaware claiming to be the sole officer of a Laguna Beach investment company called Capital Win Corporation and Gainquick LLC, then took over the titles of three Newport Beach homes that company owned.
Touchard convinced three lenders that he held the deed on the homes as the president of the investment company, and he was able to obtain equity loans of $5.9 million. He and his wife were accused of using the money to make large purchases, including a Land Rover. Some of the money was used to invest in a winery, prosecutors said.
The couple also moved the money among various bank accounts in an effort to avoid detection, prosecutors said. They also would make purchases in cash to avoid detection, prosecutors said.