Why do large real estate fraud cases keep happening in the North Bay?

"The Marin County District Attorney's Office said it is looking into complaints from some of more than 100 investors in Pacific Private Money who say that since December they haven't been able to access money invested with the company. The company, which claimed to have funded over $2 billion in property loans over its nearly two-decade history, is now being run by a San Francisco restructuring firm, and the Novato office is closed."

"In the PFI case, Oakland attorney Linda Lam was part of the Gibbs Mura team that brought a 2022 class-action federal lawsuit against what was then Umpqua Bank, alleging employees at its Novato branch overlooked 146 warnings from the institution's fraud-detection software and handled 179 transfers totaling $5.2 million to private accounts of PFI principals Ken Casey and Lewis Wallach."

"The message that investors should keep in mind when they're approached with any type of private-investment opportunity is that they should approach it with skepticism, no matter what it is or no matter their proven track record, what they've heard of other investors enjoying in that investment."

Pacific Private Money, a Marin County real estate finance company claiming $2 billion in funded property loans over nearly two decades, abruptly closed with its Novato office shuttered and operations transferred to a San Francisco restructuring firm. Over 100 investors have been unable to access their invested funds since December, prompting investigation by the Marin County District Attorney's Office. The situation echoes previous North Bay real estate fraud cases, including the PFI scheme involving Umpqua Bank employees who ignored 146 fraud-detection warnings, enabling $5.2 million in transfers to private accounts. That case resulted in $145 million recovered from asset sales and $40 million from early investors under bankruptcy law. Experts emphasize investors should approach private investment opportunities with skepticism regardless of track record.

Read at The Mercury News