A Mira Loma man was sentenced on Feb. 29 to six months in jail for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from Orange County real estate investors in what investigators called a Ponzi scheme.
Kenny Rojas, 45, pleaded guilty on May 31 to two felony counts of making an untrue statement or omission in connection with a purchase or sale. He was ordered to pay $1.3 million in restitution fees by the Orange County Superior Court.
Rojas will then have a formal probation period of five years.
Brian Lee Kissinger, 54, the co-defendant in the case, pleaded guilty to the same charges last year, and his sentencing is scheduled for March 25.
Newport Beach police said both men had participated in a Ponzi scheme.
They were accused of “recruiting unsuspecting victims to invest in buying liens on distressed real estate properties,” Newport Beach police Detective Shaw Dugan said.
The victims invested in Kissinger’s company, Aria Management Group, and “wrote large checks as part of their investment in the company,” according to Dugan.
The defendants “misrepresented the company and the investments, causing the victims to lose their money as a result,” Dugan said.
Police said Kissinger was accused of causing $832,000 in losses to victims, while Rojas was accused of causing $642,500 in losses.
City News Service contributed to this report.
